Libr@rsi

1656-58] RELATION OF i657'5S 291
the goal of beauty. Verily, man's eyes and judgment
are weak. How can there be such pride and
self-esteem in our minds, when they are so whimsical
and limited?
In France, bracelets are worn on the wrist; but
the Savages wear them not only there, but also above
the elbow and even on the legs above the ankle. Why
do not those parts deserve their vanities and trinkets
as much as the others, since the natives commonly
leave them uncovered? Diogenes, seeing a crown
presented to one who had gained the prize in the
race, took it and placed it on his feet, not on his
head, wishing to honor the part of the body that had
given him the victory.
Only women in France wear necklaces, but in
Canadas this adornment is more common among men
[ii6] than among women. Instead of pearls and
diamonds, they wear porcelain beads strung in various
ways, like those of rosaries, and little cylinders
or tubes of glass or shell-work. I have seen a Huron
wear at his neck a boat-pulley, and another some
keys that he had stolen. Anything unusual pleases
them, provided it costs them nothing more than a
theft.
We cut our nails ; the Savages let theirs grow. If
you accuse them of uncouthness, you will be condemned
by whole peoples of Oriental India, who foster
the utmost possible growth of their nails as a mark
of their nobility — wishing to indicate thereby that
their fingers, encumbered by these natural superfluities,
are not fitted for work.
In France, men and women have their clothes
made rather tight-fitting, in order to impart a lighter
appearance, the girls especially priding themselves