Among Them
Were Several Females, Pretty Enough To Attract The Attention Of
Europeans, Who Had Not Seen Their Own Countrywomen For Twelve Long
Months Past.
These wore a piece of cloth with a hole in the middle,
through which they had passed the head,
So that one part of the
garment hung down behind, and the other before, to the knees; a fine
white cloth like a muslin, was passed over this in various elegant
turns round the body, a little below the breast, forming a kind of
tunic, of which one turn sometimes fell gracefully across the
shoulder. If this dress had not entirely that perfect form, so justly
admired in the draperies of the ancient Greek statues, it was however
infinitely superior to our expectations, and much more advantageous to
the human figure, than any modern fashion we had hitherto seen."
"It was not long before some of these good people came aboard. That
peculiar gentleness of disposition, which is their general
characteristic, immediately manifested itself in all their looks and
actions, and gave full employment to those who made the human heart
their study. They expressed several marks of affection in their
countenance, took hold of our hands, leaned on our shoulders, or
embraced us. They admired the whiteness of our bodies, and frequently
pushed aside our clothes from the breast, as if to convince themselves
that we were made like them." According to this gentleman, it was the
women of the "baser sort," who yielded without difficulty to the
solicitations of the sailors.
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