A General History & Collection of Voyages and Travels ... - Nauticus

lock to grow on each side, which they tie up in clubs; many others, as well as all the women, wear itcropped short. These rough heads, most probably, want frequent scratching; for which purpose they have amost excellent instrument. This is a kind of comb made of sticks of hard wood, from seven to nine or teninches long, and about the thickness of knitting-needles. A number of these, seldom exceeding twenty, butgenerally fewer, is fastened together at one end, parallel to, and near one-tenth of an inch from each other.The other ends, which are a little pointed, will spread out or open like the sticks of a fan, by which meansthey can beat up the quarters of an hundred lice at a time. These combs or scratchers, for I believe theyserve both purposes, they always wear in their hair, on one side their head. The people of Tanna have aninstrument of this kind for the same use; but theirs is forked, I think, never exceeding three or four prongs;and sometimes only a small pointed stick. Their beards, which are of the same crisp nature as their hair,are, for the most part, worn short. Swelled and ulcerated legs and feet are common among the men; as alsoa swelling of the scrotum. I know not whether this is occasioned by disease, or by the mode of applying thewrapper before-mentioned, and which they use as at Tanna and Mallicollo. This is their only covering, andis made generally of the bark of a tree, but sometimes of leaves. The small pieces of cloth, paper, &c.which they got from us, were commonly applied to this use. We saw coarse garments amongst them, madeof a sort of matting, but they seemed never to wear them, except when out in their canoes and unemployed.Some had a kind of concave, cylindrical, stiff black cap, which appeared to be a great ornament amongthem, and, we thought, was only worn by men of note or warriors. A large sheet of strong paper, when theygot one from us, was generally applied to this use.The women's dress is a short petticoat, made of the filaments of the plantain-tree, laid over a cord, to whichthey are fastened, and tied round the waist. The petticoat is made at least six or eight inches thick, but notone inch longer than necessary for the use designed. The outer filaments are dyed black; and, as anadditional ornament, the most of them have a few pearl oyster-shells fixed on the right side. The generalornaments of both sexes are ear-rings of tortoise-shell, necklaces or amulets, made both of shells andstones, and bracelets, made of large shells, which they wear above the elbow. They have punctures, ormarks on the skin, on several parts of the body; but none, I think, are black, as at the Eastern Islands. Iknow not if they have any other design than ornament; and the people of Tanna are marked much in thesame manner.[1][1] Mr G.F. says their dress was very disfiguring, and gave them a thick squat shape. He describes itmuch like Captain Cook. According to him, these women's features, though coarse, expressed greatgood- nature; they had high foreheads, broad flat noses, rather small eyes, and very prominent cheekbones.His reflections on the degraded state in which these women live, as subservient entirely to thearbitrary will and necessary purposes of their husbands, have not so much originality as force, butpossess, however, enough of both to deserve a place here. "They commonly kept at a distance fromthe men, and seemed fearful of offending them by a look or gesture; they were the only persons inthe family who had any employment, and several of them brought bundles of sticks and fuel on theirbacks. Their insensible husbands seldom deigned to look upon them, and continued in a kind ofphlegmatic indolence, whilst the women sometimes indulged that social cheerfulness, which is thedistinguishing ornament of the sex. Thus, in every country, mankind are fond of being tyrants, andthe poorest Indian, who knows no wants but those which his existence requires, has already learnt toenslave his weaker help-mate, in order to save himself the trouble of supplying their wants, andcruelly exacts an obedience from her, which has been continued among savages as a curse upon thesex. Considering these humiliations and cruel oppressions of the sex, we have sometimes thegreatest reason to admire, that the human race has perpetuated itself, and that the Creator has wiselyplanted a motive in the female breast, which stands the test of every outrage, which makes thempatient to suffer, and prevents their withdrawing from the power of their tyrants." This indeed is oneof the most striking and important instances that can be adduced, of what has been called finalcauses, the determinate choice of an end, and the skilful adaptation of means to the accomplishment