What the Indians Look Like

Save for the paint upon their faces and bodies, these Indians of the New World are by no means displeasing to the eye. They are tall, built like race horses, being all muscle and sinew rather than given to much flesh; but the coloring which they look upon as an ornament does not only offend the eye, but is disagreeable to the nose, for the odor arising from their almost naked bodies, mingled with the fat with which the paint is mixed, smells most vilely.

As for clothes, they have few, and these easy of making. A mantle or cloak of skin, and an apron about their waists, with shoes of soft, yellow hide, is all they seem to need as protection against the weather.

But of ornaments they have a profusion. I have seen upon the neck of one man who appeared to be of importance in the tribe, no less than twelve strings of beads, and bound around his forehead, the image of a fish beaten out of pure copper. The hair of the men is gathered together in a clump, and tied with fancifully ornamented strips of deer hide that has been tanned in smoke, after which feathers of gay colors are fastened in, until their heads, when seen from behind, are more like those of some gaudy plumaged birds than of human beings.