Page:Early voyages to Terra Australis.djvu/248

, murdered, carried into the woods, and then de voured.

"They go entirely naked without the least shame, except their rajahs or petty kings, and their wives, which are not native Papoos, but mostly Ceram-Mestizoes, and are richly dressed after the manner of Ceram. Their weapons are bows of bamboo, with arrows of the same, to whose ends are fastened sharp pointed fish bones with dangerous barbs, which, when shot into the body, cannot be extracted without great difficulty. They likewise use lances, made of certain very heavy wild Penang wood; these they throw at their mark with great accuracy at a distance of six or seven fathoms. Some of them, living near the shore, use a certain kind of swords, sold to them by the people of Ceram, the hilt of which is tied to their hand by a rattan.

"Of their manners and religion, nothing else can be said than that, in many respects, they are more like wild beasts than reasonable human beings. Their women are delivered in the fields, or roads, or wherever they may happen to be taken in labour. After the birth they instantly put the infant in a bag, in which they carry their provisions, made of beaten bark of a tree. The women of the better class rub their faces with bruised coals, by which they make themselves look more like devils incarnate than human creatures; though it cannot be denied that they seem to possess, by the law of nature, a knowledge of the existence of a God, which they show by pointing with folded hands towards the heavens. For when any one lands at any place frequented by these people of Ceram, they require of us to raise our hands as they do: and with a sharp bamboo they cut both their own arms and those of their visitors. The mutual sucking of the blood from these wounds constitutes their oath, and implies a promise to do each other no mischief. Amongst them are found some letters or characters, written with a sort of red chalk on a rock. On this rock, also, were still to be seen