"The race-course was bounded on the north by low granite hills; on the
south by a forest; and on the east and west by tall shady trees, among
which were habitations of the people. Under the shadow of these
magnificent trees the spectators were assembled, and testified their
happiness by their noisy mirth and animated gestures. When we arrived, the
king had not made his appearance on the course; but his absence was fully
compensated by the pleasure we derived from watching the anxious and
animated countenances of the multitude, and in passing our opinions on the
taste of the women in the choice and adjustment of their fanciful and
many-coloured dresses. The chief's wives and younger children sat near us
in a group by themselves; and were distinguished from their companions by
their superior dress. Manchester cloths of inferior quality, but of the
most showy patterns, and dresses made of common English bed-furniture,
were fastened round the waist of several sooty maidens, who, for the sake
of fluttering a short hour in the gaze of their countrymen, had sacrificed
in clothes the earnings of a twelve-month's labour. All the women had
ornamented their necks with strings of beads, and their wrists with
bracelets of various patterns, some made of glass beads, some of brass,
others of copper; and some again of a mixture of both metals: their ancles
also were adorned with different sorts of rings, of neat workmanship.
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