etty. They covered them with a coating of black ink or
varnish which aided in preserving them. Among the influential people,
especially the women, it was the custom to set some of the teeth most
skilfully with gold which could not fall out, and gave a beautiful
appearance. The men did not glory in their mustaches or beards,
but quite the contrary; and consequently they pulled them out on
purpose. And just as it is an amusement or custom of some of us to
gnaw our finger-nails, they get amusement in pulling out the hairs of
the beard with certain little bits of cleft bamboo [canuelas hendidas]
or with little shells in the form of pincers. All the women, and in
some places the men, adorn the ears with large rings or circlets of
gold, for that purpose piercing them at an early age. Among the women
the more the ears were stretched and opened, so much greater was the
beauty. Some had two holes in each ear for two kinds of earrings,
some being larger than others.

99. The men adorned the head with only cendal [18] or long and narrow
thin cloth, with which they bound the forehead and temples, and which
they call potong. It was put on in different modes, now in the Moorish
manner like a turban without a bonnet, and now twisted and wrapped
about the head like the crown of a hat. Those who were esteemed as
valiant let the elaborately worked ends of the cloth fall down upon
their shoulders, and these were so long that they reached the legs. By
the color of the cloth they displayed their rank, and it was the badge
of their deeds and exploits; and it was not allowed to anyone to use
the red potong until he had at least killed one person. In order to
wear it embroidered with certain borders, which were like a crown,
they must have killed seven. The personal clothing of those men was a
small garment or short loose jacket [chamarreta] of fine linen which
barely reached the waist. It had no collar and was fitted formerly
with short sleeves. Among the chiefs those jackets were of a scarlet
color, and were made of fine Indian muslin. For breeches they wore a
richly colored cloth, which was generally edged with gold, about the
waist and brought up between the legs, so that the legs were decently
covered to the middle of the thigh; from there down feet and legs
were bare. The chief adornments consisted of ornaments and jewels
of gold and precious stones. They had various kinds of necklaces,
and chains; bracelets or wristlets, also of gold an