84 
EOOTAN. 
remarked, that the prettiest women I saw were employed in carrying 
water into the palace. 
Though the life of a Gy long be in an extreme degree, sedentary and 
recluse, yet, whether it may be ascribed or not to regularity and tem¬ 
perance, they are certainly fairer in their complexions, and more ath¬ 
letic, than the rest of their countrymen. The former advantage, indeed, 
of which they boast, may be imputed to a very obvious cause; as they 
are less exposed to the weather, exempt from labour, and more atten¬ 
tive to personal cleanliness, than the rest of their nation. 
We used to see them passing in procession, at the base of the emi¬ 
nence on which our habitation stood, in order to cross the bridge, and 
proceed over a small plain, on the other side, to a little island, at a 
short distance, where they undressed, and laved their brawny limbs in 
the waters of -the Tehintchieu. This resort of the Gylongs was visible 
from our windows; and as they went half naked into the water, such 
a promiscuous assemblage, afforded a fair opportunity of forming a 
just judgment of their figure: and I know not where in the world, 
an equal number of men would be met with, so straight, so well pro¬ 
portioned, and so stout. This may be taken as a general character: and 
I do not remember a single instance of deformity in the space through 
which I have travelled, unless we reckon as such, the glandular swelling 
of the throat, of which 1 shall presently speak more particularly. 
The Booteeas have invariably black hair, which it is their fashion to 
cut, close to the head. The eye is a very remarkable feature of the 
face: small, black, with long pointed corners, as though stretched and 
extended by artificial means. Their eyelashes are so thin, as to be 
