s, to make settlements: to the
former, because the islands are numerous and thickly inhabited by a
people who, though not rich, were accustomed to wear cotton and silk
garments, and gold pieces (not merely of thin plate) and brooches to
fasten them; and rich necklaces, pendants, ear-rings, finger-rings,
ankle-rings, on the neck, ears, hands, and feet--the men, as well as
the women. They even used to, and do yet, insert gold between their
teeth as an ornament. Although among the other ornaments which they
used were to be found articles of considerable interest and curiosity
which could be described, there is one practice which seems more worthy
of attention than the others--namely, that of wearing rings upon the
instep of the foot. This seems to be precisely the same custom that
the ancients wrote about when they mentioned nations who used gold
for fetters and chains, especially among the nobles. Their ornamenting
the teeth is also worth notice, although it is a barbarous practice to
deprive them of their natural whiteness, which God conferred upon the
teeth for the beauty of man. On the other hand, they showed themselves
to be both skilful and prudent in trying to maintain them as necessary
instruments for the preservation of health and life. They are thus
very diligent in rinsing out their mouths and cleansing their teeth
after eating, and upon arising in the morning. For the same purpose
they treat and adorn their teeth in the following way: From early
childhood they file and sharpen them, [44] either leaving them uniform
or fashioning them all to a point, like a saw--although this latter
is not practiced by the more elegant. They all cover their teeth with
a varnish, either lustrous black or bright red--with the result that
the teeth remain as black as jet, or red as vermilion or ruby. From
the edge to the middle of the tooth they neatly bore a hole, which
they afterward fill with gold, so that this drop or point of gold
remains as a shining spot in the middle of the black tooth. This
seems to them most beautiful, and to us does not appear ugly.

These people were and still are very sagacious, and keen in traffic and
bargaining, and in buying and selling; and they applied themselves to
all gainful pursuits--and not least to agriculture and to the breeding
of animals, regularly carried on for the profits thus made. They
have not only great harvests of rice (which is their ordinary bread),
but also crops of cotton, wit