Page:Life and astonishing adventures of Peter Williamson (3).pdf/23

 23

wear pieces of blue cloth for stockings some like our soldiers' splatter-dashes. They reach higher than their knees, but not lower than their ancies. They esteem them easy to run in, Breeches they never wear, but instead, thereof two pieces of linen, one, before and another behind. The better sort have shirts of the finest linen they can get, and to these some wear ruffles: but these they never put on till they have painted them of various colours, which they get from the pecone root and bark of trees, and never pull them on to wash, but wear them till they fall to pieces. They are very proud, and take great delight in wearing trinkets, such as silver plates, round their wrists and necks, with several strings of wampum, which is made of cotton, interwoven with pebbles, cockleshells, &c. down to their breasts, and from their ears and noses they have rings or beads which hand dangling an inch or two. The men have no beards, to prevent which they use certain instruments and tricks, as soon it begins to grow. The hair of their heads is managed differently; some pluck out and destroy all, except a lock hanging from the crown of the head, which they interweave with wampum and feathers of a various colours. The women wear it very long, twisted down, their backs with beads, feathers and wampum, and on their beads most of them wear little coronets of brass or coppar; round