The female children are furnished with a short piece of cloth, in imitation of a petticoat, but destitute of a seam, belted round the loins, and depending as low as the knees. Their hair, when dressed, is parted longitudinally on the top of the head, and collected on each side behind the ear, into a vertical cylindric form, of the length of five or six inches, decorated with silver and brass rings and ribands; the line of separation of the hair is coloured with vermilion. This disposition of the hair into two rolls is generally observed in the girls, and is often continued one or two years after their residence with a husband. The girl is kept in a state of considerable subjection; she habitually conforms to all the commands of the mother, and is obliged to assist her in her ordinary occupations; if she is refractory, she receives a blow upon the head or back from the hand of the mother, but hardly ever from the father. At the age of four or five years, she is taught the use of the _hoppas_, and is gradually familiarised to carry burdens. They are trained up to industry, and are taught to cut wood, to cultivate maize, to perform the scalp dance, and are early informed of the sexual relations of men and women, and warned against the arts which will be aimed at the subjugation of their virtue. {219} The experienced parent, however, in addition to these salutary counsels, keeps a vigilant eye to the deportment of her unmarried daughter, and so sedulously guards her steps, that the arts of seduction, notwithstanding the free use of the licentiousness of language, appear to be more rarely triumphant over the Omawhaw maid, than over the civilized fair. Hence a prostitute, who has never been married, is of exceedingly rare occurrence. Yet, notwithstanding the vigilance of the parent, the daughter sometimes elopes with a favoured lover, but not until she has ascertained that his intentions are perfectly honourable. The girl displays the most affectionate regard for her parents, and grand parents. Whilst the deportment of the sister is thus trenched and guarded, the brother roams at large, almost uncontrolled. Should his conduct be at any time flagrantly outrageous, he will, perhaps, in the anger of his parents, receive a harsh reproof; but an ill-judged affection soon prompts them to assuage his grief, and dry his tears, by presents and soothing expressions. At a very early age he is furnished with a bow and arrows, with the use of which he delights to employ himself, that he may be qualified for a hunter and warrior.