第64章

These are the words of Rousseau,and like many more of his positions must be received with limitation.Were an unarmed Englishman and an unarmed New Hollander to engage,the latter,I think,would fall.

Mr.Cook seems inclined to believe the covering of their heads to be wool.

But this is erroneous.It is certainly hair,which when regularly combed becomes soon nearly as flexible and docile as our own.Their teeth are not so white and good as those generally found in Indian nations,except in the children,but the inferiority originates in themselves.

hey bite sticks,stones,shells and all other hard substances,indiscriminately with them,which quickly destroys the enamel and gives them a jagged and uneven appearance.A high forehead,with prominent overhanging eyebrows,is their leading characteristic,and when it does not operate to destroy all openness of countenance gives an air of resolute dignity to the aspect,which recommends,in spite of a true negro nose,thick lips,and a wide mouth.

The prominent shin bone,so invariably found in the Africans,is not,however,seen.But in another particular they are more alike.The rank offensive smell which disgusts so much in the negro,prevails strongly among them when they are in their native state,but it wears off in those who have resided with us and have been taught habits of cleanliness.

Their hands and feet are small,especially the former.

[I mentioned this,among other circumstances,to colonel Gordon when I was at the Cape,and he told me that it indicated poverty and inadequacy of living.

He instanced to me the Hottentots and Caffres.The former fare poorly,and have small hands and feet.The Caffres,their neighbours,live plenteously and have very large ones.This remark cannot be applied to civilized nations,where so many factitious causes operate.]

Their eyes are full,black and piercing,but the almost perpetual strain in which the optic nerve is kept,by looking out for prey,renders their sight weak at an earlier age than we in general find ours affected.

These large black eyes are universally shaded by the long thick sweepy eyelash,so much prized in appreciating beauty,that,perhaps hardly any face is so homely which this aid cannot in some degree render interesting;

and hardly any so lovely which,without it,bears not some trace of insipidity.

Their tone of voice is loud,but not harsh.I have in some of them found it very pleasing.

Longevity,I think,is seldom attained by them.Unceasing agitation wears out the animal frame and is unfriendly to length of days.We have seen them grey with age,but not old;perhaps never beyond sixty years.

But it may be said,the American Indian,in his undebauched state,lives to an advanced period.True,but he has his seasons of repose.He reaps his little harvest of maize and continues in idleness while it lasts.

He kills the roebuck or the moose-deer,which maintains him and his family for many days,during which cessation the muscles regain their spring and fit him for fresh toils.Whereas every sun awakes the native of New South Wales (unless a whale be thrown upon the coast)to a renewal of labour,to provide subsistence for the present day.

The women are proportionally smaller than the men.I never measured but two of them,who were both,I think,about the medium height.

One of them,a sister of Baneelon,stood exactly five feet two inches high.

The other,named Gooreedeeana,was shorter by a quarter of an inch.

But I cannot break from Gooreedeeana so abruptly.She belonged to the tribe of Cameragal,and rarely came among us.One day,however,she entered my house to complain of hunger.She excelled in beauty all their females I ever saw.Her age about eighteen,the firmness,the symmetry and the luxuriancy of her bosom might have tempted painting to copy its charms.

Her mouth was small and her teeth,though exposed to all the destructive purposes to which they apply them,were white,sound and unbroken.

Her countenance,though marked by some of the characteristics of her native land,was distinguished by a softness and sensibility unequalled in the rest of her countrywomen,and I was willing to believe that these traits indicated the disposition of her mind.I had never before seen this elegant timid female,of whom I had often heard;but the interest I took in her led me to question her about her husband and family.

She answered me by repeating a name which I have now forgotten,and told me she had no children.I was seized with a strong propensity to learn whether the attractions of Gooreedeeana were sufficiently powerful to secure her from the brutal violence with which the women are treated,and as I found my question either ill understood or reluctantly answered,I proceeded to examine her head,the part on which the husband's vengeance generally alights.With grief I found it covered by contusions and mangled by scars.The poor creature,grown by this time more confident from perceiving that I pitied her,pointed out a wound just above her left knee which she told me was received from a spear,thrown at her by a man who had lately dragged her by force from her home to gratify his lust.

I afterwards observed that this wound had caused a slight lameness and that she limped in walking.I could only compassionate her wrongs and sympathize in her misfortunes.To alleviate her present sense of them,when she took her leave I gave her,however,all the bread and salt pork which my little stock afforded.