source of wealth,
since a man's means are measured by the number of his progeny; but it
has other advantages besides the dowry, for the women work more than the
men do, both in and out of doors; and, in addition to the females, the
sons work for the household until they marry, and in after life take
care of their parents in the same way as in the first instance the
parents took care of them.

Twins are usually hailed with delight, because they swell the power of
the family, though in some instances they are put to death. Albinos are
valued, though their colour is not admired. If death occurs in a natural
manner, the body is usually either buried in the village or outside. A
large portion of the negro races affect nudity, despising clothing as
effeminate; but these are chiefly the more boisterous roving pastorals,
who are too lazy either to grow cotton or strip the trees of their bark.
Their young women go naked; but the mothers suspend a little tail both
before and behind. As the hair of the negro will not grow long, a barber
might be dispensed with, were it not that they delight in odd fashions,
and are therefore continually either shaving it off altogether, or else
fashioning it after the most whimsical designs. No people in the world
are so proud and headstrong as the negroes, whether they be pastoral or
agriculturalists. With them, as with the rest of the world, "familiarity
breeds contempt"; hospitality lives only one day; for though proud of a
rich or white visitor--and they implore him to stop, that they may keep
feeding their eyes on his curiosities--they seldom give more than a cow
or a goat, though professing to supply a whole camp with provisions.

Taking the negroes as a whole, one does not find very marked or much
difference in them. Each tribe has its characteristics, it is true. For
instance, one cuts his teeth or tattoos his face in a different manner
from the others; but by the constant intermarriage with slaves, much
of this effect is lost, and it is further lost sight of owing to the
prevalence of migrations caused by wars and the division of governments.
As with the tribal marks so with their weapons; those most commonly in
use are the spear, assage, shield, bow and arrow. It is true some affect
one, some the other; but in no way do we see that the courage of tribes
can be determined by the use of any particular weapon: for the bravest
use the arrow, which is the more dreaded; while the weakest confi