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Show TRAVhL THROUGH UPPER CANADA: th1t of an A fri c:u ; and his li tlc ho) s, who ar the very imngc of th.:-fitth er, ~r .. j ull a. , bla k as him!Clf. With rcgant to lntkm childr ·n being ,,b itt.: on t 1cir fz r ~ conli ng into the world, it ou~ 1t b~ no means ~o be condtHkd from then''-., tlut they would rcnuin fo 1f then· mothers hd not ht.:daub them "ith gn:afe, herbs, &c. as it is \Vc::ll I nuwn that Peg ro I ·11 t , . 4· . olj ll ck w!c 11 l rcn an.: no pel 1CLL , 1cn horn ' n r iJJ dccd for nlany months :\it<.:rward..;, but that they acqnire th eir j etty hue ._ -r.1dually. n b<.:in .,. c - po!Cd to th air and fun, jull: as in the vegc..:t~:bk world the tcll~ kr bad~:: 011 firil peeping above ground, turns from whttc to a puk grcentll1 coloUI, and afterward to :1 deeper green. Thot~gh I rcm:1rkcd to you in a former ktter, that the MiHi fTagui , who live about Lake ntario, were fa much darker cafl: than any other tribe of Indians 1 met with, yet I do n t thin!· that the diA.erent {)1ades of complexion obfervablc amongfl: the Indian ar fo mu h onfin~d. to particular trib s as to parti ·ular fa!l1ilies; for even amongfl: the M1fltf~ faguis I faw fcveral m n that wer comparatively of a very light colour. Judging of the reeks, herokce ·, and other fonthern Indians, from what I have fcen of them at PhiladeJ1 hia, and at other towns in the States, whither they often come in large. parties, led either by bulinds or cnriofi. ty, it a1 pears to me that their ikin has a redcl r ting , and more w:mnth of colouring in it, if I may ufe the cxprdlion, than that of the Indians in the neighbourhood of the Jakes; it a}:pears to me alfo, that there is Jcfs difr~rcncc .of colour amongfl them tlun amongfl thofe lafl: mentionc L Amongf1: the female Indians aHi , in general, there is a much greater fam nc.:(s of colour tlwn amonn-11: the men. I do not recolleCt to have 0 fecn any of a deeper complexion than what might be termed a dirty cop-per colour. . The Indians univerf11ly l1ave 1 ng, firaight, black, coarfe hair, and black eyes, rather fmall than full fized; they hav , in general, alfo, high prominent check bones, and !harp fmall nofes, rather inclining to au aquiline fhape; they have good teeth, and their breath, in general, is as fweet as that of a human being can be. The men arc fo r the mofl: part \cry well made; it is a moft rare circumflancc to meet wjth a deformed perfon J>I~ RSON OF TTIE INDIAN, .3'77 pcrfon an .ngfl: th_ ·m : tlwy arc rcmarl .1hly flr. ight; Iu vc full pen chcfls ! th<.:1r walk 1s ill· n and cru1, and m:tny among!l them have really a dJgn1£icd c_kportmcn. . V ·ry few of tht.:m arc und<.:r the mitilll flature, and n on~ o( thun v. l:l" bccollle very f :t or corpuknt. You may occnfion ally fcc among1l tL cm flo ut robull: men, clofely put together, but in gcncial they :11'<.: !Hit n,ghtly mad<.:. Their l ·g 'arms, and hands, arc fur the mo' part c·"· tn.:mely wdl fh apcd; and very many amongf1: them would b<.: deemed hanJlomc men in any country in the worl L The W<1Ilt: n, on the contrary, arc moilly und ...: r the middle fize; nnd h:tvc h i•) h:r c. hc<.:k bones, and rounder f1ces than the men. They have very ungr.tceCul carriages ; walk with their toes turned confidcrably inwards, ani with a fhuffiing gait; and as they advance in year. they grow remarkably fat and coarfe. I never nnv an Indian woman of the age or thirty, but what her eyes were funk, her forehead wrinkled, her fkin loofc and fhriv lied, and her whole per[( n, in ihort, forbidding; yet, when young, their £1 cs and perfons arc really pleafing, not to fay fometimes very captivating. One could hardly imagine, without witneffing it, that a few years could poHibly make fuch an alteration as it does in their perfons. Thi fudden change i~ hid1y owing to the drudgery impofed on them by thl! men after a certain age; to their expofing them(elves fo much to the burning rays of the fun; fitting [o continually i1 the 1illoke of wood fires ; and, above all, to the general cnl1:om of proiljtuting thcmfdvcs at a Vl!I y early age. Though the Indians are profufdy [urnifhcd with hair on th( ir hl!a 1 ~, yet on none o[ the other parts of the body, ufua11y covered with it amongfl us, is the fmalld l: fign of hair vifibl , except, indeed, on the chins of old men, where a few flcnder flr<1ggling hairs an; fometimes feen, not different from what may be occa!icnally {ecn on women of a ccrtc.. in age in Europe. Many perfons have fuppo[i·d that the Indians hav been CJ cnted without hair on thofc parts of the body wh re it appears wanting; oth er'', on the contrary, arc of opinion, that nature has not bcc:n leis l ountiful to them than to us; and that this apparent deficiency o[ hair is wh< lly ov ing to tht.:ir plucking it nt themfdvcs by the roots, as foo!l as it appears above the n... in. lt is 3 C well |