Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/205

 Rh the above description of the American soldiers has left us his first impressions of New England women.

“The women of all this district as far as Boston and New York are slender and straight, and are plump without being stout. They have pretty little feet, good strong hands and arms, a very white skin, and a healthy color in their faces, without having to paint. Hardly any of those I have seen were pitted with smallpox; but then inoculation has been common here for many years. Their teeth are very white, their lips beautiful, and their eyes lively and laughing. Moreover, they have a natural, unconstrained manner, a free and cheerful countenance, a natural assurance. They care much for cleanliness and for being well shod. They dress very becomingly, but all their clothes must fit them very closely. . . . They curl their hair every day, make it up behind into a chignon, and in front over a cushion of moderate height. They generally go about bareheaded, and at most set a little heart-shaped thing, or some such trifle, on their heads. Here and there a country nymph lets her hair fly and braids it with a ribbon. However poor may be the hut in which they live, they put on a silken mantle and gloves when they go out. They know how to wrap themselves in the mantle very prettily, so that one little white elbow peeps out. Then they put on some kind of well-made shade-hat, from under which they peep coquettishly with their roguish eyes. In the English colonies the fair ones have taken a fancy to mantles of red silk or wool. Dressed in this way a girl runs, jumps, and dances about, wishes you a pleasant good-day, or gives, according to the question, a saucy