Libr@rsi

1656 - 58] RELA TION OF 1637 -58 289
head-dress is good in their eyes ;
a man would use a
hood as readily as a woman, if he found that head-gear
warm and a good fit for him. It is true that those
to make
who mingle with us most often are beginning
a distinction in their head-dresses, the men choosing
our hats or riding-caps, and the women our red
woolen nightcaps ; the longer they are and the more
striking in color, the more beautiful they appear to
them. But they are not so particular that a woman
will not use a riding-cap, and a man a nightcap, in
the very middle of the day. In Europe, if a boy
should dress up like a girl, he would be a masquerader.
In new France, a woman's dress is not
improper for a man. The Ursuline Mothers [114]
having given a dress to a young girl who was leaving
their seminary, the man who married her wore it
soon afterward, with as much grace as did his wife ;
and, if the French made fun of him, he only laughed,
taking their raillery for approval.
In France, not long ago, the lobe of the ear was
pierced for hanging thereto a little trinket, and the
smaller the hole the more dainty its appearance.
Canadas, both men and women have their
In
ears
pierced, the operation being performed upon children
in the cradle. The larger the holes, the better ; and
they easily insert therein a stick of Spanish wax.
Not only the lobe of the ear is pierced, but also the
cartilage or rim, which the women are wont to hang
with bits of shell, called porcelain.
In other parts of America, some Nations pierce the
nose between the two nostrils, suspending therefrom
some trinket or other; others set precious stones in
[115] their cheeks, and still others on their thick and
recurved lips—all this to please their eyes and attain