We Have
Frequently Observed Little Troops Of Women Pass, To And Fro, Along The
Beach, Laden With Fruit And Roots, Escorted By A Party Of Men Under Arms;
Though, Now And Then, We Have Seen A Man Carry A Burden At The Same Time,
But Not Often.
I know not on what account this was done, nor that an armed
troop was necessary.
At first, we thought they were moving out of the
neighbourhood with their effects, but we afterwards saw them both carry
out, and bring in, every day.
I cannot say the women are beauties, but I think them handsome enough for
the men, and too handsome for the use that is made of them. Both sexes are
of a very dark colour, but not black; nor have they the least
characteristic of the negro about them. They make themselves blacker than
they really are, by painting their faces with a pigment of the colour of
black-lead. They also use another sort which is red, and a third sort
brown, or a colour between red and black. All these, but especially the
first, they lay on with a liberal hand, not only on the face, but on the
neck, shoulders, and breast. The men wear nothing but a belt, and the
wrapping leaf as at Mallicollo. The women have a kind of petticoat made of
the filaments of the plantain-tree, flags, or some such thing, which
reaches below the knee. Both sexes wear ornaments, such as bracelets, ear-
rings, necklaces, and amulets.
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