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(p. 17)
"A first interview does not
authorize my attempting to describe their features;
but I may safely say, that I could not, even in a dozen
visits, have discovered the regular colour of their skin;
from its being so covered with blood, grease, and
dirt, as to baffle all attempts to trace its natural hue.
Its artificial dye was of a dull copper or brown colour.
Amongst some of the young girls we occasionally could discover a deep purple tinge of health on the checks; and the skins of both sexes were very soft and greasy to the touch. The hair of the women was confined in a knot on the top of the head, or on the forehead in some; but others, like men, wore it in glorious confusion all over their necks and faces. Whichever way it was arranged not a curl was to be seen, and the jetty black of these locks gave an air of inexpressible wildness to each countenance. The men had very scanty or no beards, and, as far as we could learn, the bodies of both sexes were destitute of hair." |
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