A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the; Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea; and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the; Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea; and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
As I had two measuring rods with me, we went round and measured those
that appeared to be tallest among them. One of these was six feet six
inches high, several more were six feet five, and six feet six inches;
but the stature of the greater part of them was from five feet ten to
six feet. Their complexion is a dark copper-colour, like that of the
Indians in North America; their hair is straight, and nearly as harsh as
hog's bristles: It is tied back with a cotton string, but neither sex
wears any head-dress. They are well-made, robust, and bony; but their
hands and feet are remarkably small. They are clothed with the skins of
the guanico, sewed together into pieces about six feet long and five
wide: These are wrapped round the body, and fastened with a girdle, with
the hairy side inwards; some of them had also what the Spaniards have
called a _puncho_, a square piece of cloth made of the downy hair of the
guanico, through which a hole being cut for the head, the rest hangs
round them about as low as the knee. The guanico is an animal that in
size, make, and colour, resembles a deer, but it has a hump on its back,
and no horns. These people wear also a kind of drawers, which they pull
up very tight, and buskins, which reach from the mid-leg to the instep
before, and behind are brought under the heel; the rest of the foot is
without any covering. We observed that some of the men, had a circle
painted round the left eye, and that others were painted on their arms,
and on different parts of the face; the eye-lids of all the young women
were painted black. They talked much, and some of them called out
Ca-pi-ta-ne; but when they were spoken to in Spanish, Portuguese,
French, and Dutch, they made no reply. Of their own language we could
distinguish only one word, which was _chevow_: We supposed it to be a
salutation, as they always pronounced it when they shook hands with us,
and when, by signs, they asked us to give them any thing. When they were
spoken to in English, they repeated the words after us as plainly as we
could do; and they soon got by heart the words, "Englishmen come on
shore." Every one had a missile weapon of a singular kind, tucked into
the girdle. It consisted of two round stones, covered with leather, each
weighing about a pound, which were fastened to the two ends of a string
about eight feet long. This is used as a sling, one stone being kept in
the hand, and the other whirled round the head till it is supposed to
have acquired sufficient force, and then discharged at the object. They
are so expert in the management of this double-headed shot, that they
will hit a mark, not bigger than a shilling, with both the stones, at
the distance of fifteen yards; it is not their custom, however, to
strike either the guanico or the ostrich with them in the chase, but
they discharge them so that the cord comes against the legs of the
ostrich, or two of the legs of the guanico, and is twisted round them by
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account