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Show TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CA TAOA :- wc1l known, indeed, that the Indians have a great difl ikc..: to lni r, anll that fuch of the men as are ambitious of appcarin c- g~ )' 'I" th 111 the rcfl, pluck it not only from their ey -brow a1 1ll cy ·-1 1n1cs, bu t alC from every part of the head, except one fpot on the b .tcl part of the crown, where th ey lc<tve a long lock. 1~ or rlly own part, from every thino· I have fccn aml h ard, I am fully pcrfuadcd, that if an In di:tn \\ ''r • to Jay afidc this cufiom of plucl ing out the h:t ir, h e would not nly have a beard, but likcwifc hair on the f tmc parts of the body as white p opk have; I think, however,. at the t um: time, th:t t th i h<.:ir wo u~tl be muLh fitJ cr, and not nrow as tht kly as ll} on our bodt-..: , IWt \vtth:l.mo ing th:H the hair of their heads is fo much thicker than ours. The few hairs that are ft.:en on the faces of olcl men arc to be attributed to the carclefii1cts of old people about their external appe~trancc. To pluck out their hair, all fuch as have any conn~t'tion with the trader make ufe of a pliable worm, fi rmed of flattened braf' wire. This infirument is clofely appli d, in its open i1atc, to the furfacc of' t:hc body where the hair grows; it is then comprdTed by the fin ger aml thumb; a great number of hair arc caught at once betwccn the fpiral evolutions 0f the wire, and by a fudden twitch they arc all drawn out by the roots. An old fquaw, with one of thcfe inll:ruments, woulJ deprive you of your beard in a very few minutes,. and a flight a pplie1tion of the worm two or three times in the-year would be tLi t11cient to keep your chin fmooth ever afterwards. A very gr at number of the whit~ people, in the neighbourhood of Mald n and Detroit, from having fubmitted to this operation, appcar ·at firfl: ilght as little indebted to nature for beards as the Indians. The operation is very painful) but it is 1oo11 over, and wh n one confiders how much time and trouble is f:l.Ved and a[e g tined by it in the end, it is only furpriGnr; that more peopb do not fummon up rc:folutiou, and patiently fu mi t to it. The long loci of hair on the top of th(; head, with th Jkin on which it grows, confiitutc the true fc:tlp; and in fcalping a peri( n th:tt has a full head of hair, a11 e. ·pcricnccd warrior never thinks of taking off more of the ikin than a bit of about the fizc of a crown p iece, from the part of n R " s s o F T u E 1 T n r " N s. of the head where this locl· is Ulllally left. Th ·y ornam(;nt thi-; fulit'rr hck of hair with be;tds, i1lvcr trinkets, &c. and on grand occ diom '' id feat 1crs. T he wom 11 do not pluck any of the hair ii·orn off t 1cir hc.1Js, and pride thcrnfchcs upon havin~ it as long as f onibk. Th ·y commonly wc;lt' it nc;ttly pb ted l l f> behind, and divided in front on t 'lc mid<IJc of the {; >r head. hen they wifh to :t.p} car finer th an ufu·d, they p~ti n t the fma ll part f the 11 in, whi ch appears on the f paration t the h air, vith a t1 r ·ak or v 'I miJ:on ; when nea tly done, it lool· : cxtn:mc]y well, an cl forms a plcafi ng ontr.1 fl t the jetty bl: ck of their hai r. The Indians, who have any c.lealings with the Englifh or American traders, and all of them have tb:J.t live in the neighbourhood, and to the eall: of the Mifi]J11ppi, and in the neighbourhood of the gr at lakes to the north-wcfl:, have now totally laid afide the u[e of furs and ikins in th(;ir drc[s, except for their n10cs or moccafi11s, and fometirnc · for their leggings, as they find they can exchange them to ad van tag~ for blankets and woollen laths, &c. which they confider Jikcwife as mu h more agr eable and commodious materials for wearing appar I. The mo cafin is made f the fkin of the deer, elk, or buffalo, which is commonly dreffed without the hai r, and rendered of a deep brown colour by being expofed to the frnokc of a wobd fir . It is formed of a finglc piece of leather, with a feam from the toe to the in fiep, and anothe~· behind, :fimilar to that in a common n10e; by mean of a thong, it is fall:ened round the infl:cp, jufi under the ankle-bone, and i thus made to fit very clo[c to the foot. Round that part where the foot is put in, a flap of the depth of an inch or two is left, which h<lllgs loo[dy down over the firing by which the moccafin i f,tfl-cncd; and this flnp, as alto the fcam, are taflefully ornamen t d with porcupine qui Is and beads: the Oap is edged with tin or copper tag filled with tl:arlct 1air, if the moccalln be intei ckd for a man, and with ribands iffor a woman. At). ornamented moccalin of this fort is only worn in dr [:,as tl1e rnamcnts arc cxpenfivc, and the leather foon wears out; one of pbin kat her anfwcrs for ordinary ufc. Many Qf the white people on the In- 3 C 2 di,tn |
