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 directly his work was over. But the laugh was not all on my side. At sight of me he burst into a loud guffaw, the cause of which was explained by his mistress, who said that I was the only woman whom Isaac had ever seen in a black beaver riding-hat, of the shape commonly called in the colony a "bell topper." Isaac was evidently an old beau, for his hair was freshly curled, and every ringlet shone with oil. Wrapped up to the chin in a very handsome new fur mantle, he continued to stare at me and my hat over the top of his saucer, and to chuckle merrily to himself while his mistress expatiated to us on his many merits, but especially on the fact of his being wifeless, emphatically impressing upon us the great superiority of unmarried natives as servants over those who had wives. The reason of this preference for celibate savages is that the native women are less patient of remaining long in any one spot than their lords, and, considering the circumstances of their lives, I confess that I do not wonder that they crave for frequent change of place. With no settled habitations to develop a love of home, and with no idea of laying up money for their children or for old age, it seems to me that only idiots or philosophers could long endure the sight of the same scenery, and not confess to a feeling of being "bored."

One of the chief purposes for which the natives covet oil is that they may mix it with a red earth called wilghee, which they use in painting themselves. The effect of this wilghee when applied to the cheeks alone, is far from unbecoming; but wilghee, which enjoys the same favour as the blue woad once so fashionable in Britain, is not confined to the face, but is frequently worn as a