not allowed to eat the best kinds of food, so it accords with the
characteristic selfishness of man that they should not be allowed to
obtain, or use the finest ornaments. Lastly, it is a remarkable fact,
as proved by the foregoing quotations, that the same fashions in
modifying the shape of the head, in ornamenting the hair, in painting,
tattooing, in perforating the nose, lips, or ears, in removing or
filing the teeth, etc., now prevail, and have long prevailed, in the
most distant quarters of the world. It is extremely improbable that
these practices, followed by so many distinct nations, should be due to
tradition from any common source. They indicate the close similarity of
the mind of man, to whatever race he may belong, just as do the almost
universal habits of dancing, masquerading, and making rude pictures.
Having made these preliminary remarks on the admiration felt by savages
for various ornaments, and for deformities most unsightly in our eyes,
let us see how far the men are attracted by the appearance of their
women, and what are their ideas of beauty. I have heard it maintained
that savages are quite indifferent about the beauty of their women,
valuing them solely as slaves; it may therefore be well to observe that
this conclusion does not at all agree with the care which the women
take in ornamenting themselves, or with their vanity. Burchell (53.
Travels in South Africa, 1824, vol. i. p. 414.) gives an amusing
account of a Bush-woman who used as much grease, red ochre, and shining
powder as would have ruined any but a very rich husband. She
displayed also much vanity and too evident a consciousness of her
superiority. Mr. Winwood Reade informs me that the negroes of the West
Coast often discuss the beauty of their women. Some competent observers
have attributed the fearfully common practice of infanticide partly to
the desire felt by the women to retain their good looks. (54. See, for
references, Gerland, Ueber das Aussterben der Naturvolker, 1868, ss.
51, 53, 55; also Azara, Voyages, etc., tom. ii. p. 116.) In several
regions the women wear charms and use love-philters to gain the
affections of the men; and Mr. Brown enumerates four plants used for
this purpose by the women of North-Western America. (55. On the
vegetable productions used by the North-Western American Indians, see
Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. x.)
Hearne (56. A Journey from Prince of Wales Fort, 8vo. ed. 1796, p.
89.), an excellent observer, who lived many years with the American
Indians, says, in speaking of the women, Ask a Northern Indian what is
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