V. Of the Dress, .firms, Huts, Utensils, of the Atmerican Indians, and the .1rts relating to these, which are known among them.
• The arts of a people who have not subjected the louver animals to their dominion, and are ignorant of the useful metals, must be few and imperfect. It may be of advantage, however, to attend to them, in as far as they exhibit the genius and dispositions of human be ings in the early stages of improvement ; and as they point out one remarkable difference among others, be tween the inhabitants of the Old World and the New. Indeed, it may be said, that the people of America were, at the time when they were discovered by the Spa niards, fully three centuries behind those of Europe or Asia, in whatever contributes to unite and to civilize mankind.
It would be the first concern of a savage to provide some covering for his body. In the warmer latitudes of America, where the changes which take place in the atmosphere have' little effect upon the constitution, most of the barbarous natives were wholly destitute of clothes. Others, deviating a little from this state of naked sim plicity, had a slight covering liar those parts which modesty requires us to conceal. But though the Ame rican savages were destitute of clothes, they were not unacquainted with ornaments. They smeared their bodies with substances of various hues, and dressed their hair with much art and anxiety. Though of a red or copper colour themselves, they affected the same colour as an ornament; and the mines, where cinnabar was to be found, were of no other use to them than that of furnishing them with a pigment for the embel lishment of their persons.* They impressed upon their bodies the figures of different animals; and they spent no little time, and bore much pain, while they decorated themselves after this fantastic manner. They wore also glittering stones, shells, and small pieces of gold, in their noses, ears, and cheeks. But the object of the savage in dressing himself, is not the same with that which prompts the young men in civilized coun tries to adorn their persons; the embellishments of the Indian have a reference to war more than to gallantry. Such is the degraded state of the women in the New World, that it is reckoned beneath the dignity of the male to adorn himself, in order to appear amiable in their presence. It is when lie designs to march against his enemies that the Indian puts on his most valuable ornaments; it is when he is about to enter the coun cil of his nation, to appear among the heroes of his tribe, who can enumerate many scalps, and have paci fied with much blood the spirits of the dead; it is in these circumstances that he decks himself with all his art and care, and shines in all the horror of barbarous decoration.
The American Indian spends much of his time in preparing himself for the council or the field ; the bu siness of dressing and sorting the colours to his taste, is held to be one of the first importance ; and his ut most care and assiduity are employed to finish it in the most perfect manner. (Ulloa, Illenzoires la Decou verte, &c. tom. ii. p. 8.) Among some tribes, the wo men are occupied during a great part of the day in adorning their husbands ; effacing whatever does not meet with their approbation; compounding the colours anew, and repeating the application with more exact ness than before. Two lines are drawn upon the eye lids, two upon the lips, and the same number upon the eyebrows and ears; the chin and neck receive their pe culiar ornaments, and a thick covering of vermilion distinguishes the checks. The colours, among which the red predominates, are introduced by puncturing the skin ; and the extent of the surface which is thus adorn ed, is always proportioned to the exploits which the warrior can enumerate; some painting only their arms, others their arms and legs, and others their thighs. But lie who has reached the perfection of renown, is decorated from the waist upwards, and has the figures of bows and arrows, hatchets, and animals of different kinds, imprinted on his body. These marks consti tute the heraldry of the savages; and among them, its distinctions arc applied with greater attention to per sonal qualifications, than mime; the polished nations of the ancient world. The work of dressing, however. is not yet finished. The hair being cut off from the head, or pulled out by the roots, excepting only a small por tion on the top of the crown ; this lock is stiffened with gums, and adorned with beads, shells, wampum, and leathers of Nations hues. The lartilages of the ears having been split quite round, are extended with cords. so as to meet on the nape of the neck, where they arc tied. The head itself is painted of a bright vermilion colour, so far down as the eyebrows; and when the warrior is in lull attire, it is sprinkled with a white powder; the nose is likewise bored and hung with trinkets ; and, to complete the whole, plumes and tufts of leathers are attached to the arms, legs, and alleles. These last, however, are the tokens of valour, and none hut such as hate distinguished themselves in the field are permitted to wear them. Wlin an Indian is thus adorned, lie is the vainest of all human beings; lie walks more erect ; his eyes sparkle with satisfaction and de light ; and he is incessantly employed in contemplating himself, and changing his attitudes, in order to his person with greater variety and effect.