To Reward His Performance, We Dropped Some More Beads To Him,
Which So Tempted A Number Of Men And Women,
That they amused us with
amazing feats of agility in the water, and not only fetched up several
beads scattered
At once, but likewise large nails, which, on account
of their weight, descended quickly to a considerable depth. Some of
them continued a long while under water, and the velocity with which
we saw them go down, the water being perfectly clear, was very
surprising. The frequent ablutions of these people seem to make
swimming familiar to them from their earliest childhood; and, indeed,
their easy position in the water, and the pliancy of their limbs, gave
us reason to look on them almost as amphibious creatures." These
trifling ornaments were most eagerly coveted by all ages and sexes,
and often prized much above any other European goods however useful,
so prevalent and powerful is the love of ornament in our species. "The
methods to obtain them from us were very different, and consequently
not always equally successful. When we distributed a few beads to one
set of people, some young fellows would impudently thrust their hands
in between them, and demand their share, as though it had been their
due; these attempts we always made it our business to discourage by a
flat refusal. It was already become difficult to deny a venerable old
man, who, with a hand not yet palsied by age, vigorously pressed ours,
and with a perfect reliance upon our good-nature, whispered the
petition in our ears.
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