The fondness for bright colours among the native women can be observed in their extremely simple but artistic costume. The entire outfit consists of three pieces and the style does not change with the seasons. The skirt consists of a piece of cotton cloth, generally a plaid, wrapped around the hips and held in place by a sash; the waist is a square piece of figured material, sometimes richly embroidered, with a hole cut in the centre to pass the head through and the ends tucked down under the skirt. Their straight, black hair is usually braided down the back and they are both bareheaded, and barefooted, and, probably, rather empty-minded. The man may afford a pair of sandals made from a piece of sole leather and strapped on his feet, but the women seldom afford this luxury. A little washing would not injure their natural complexion. They seldom walk but go along with a peculiar swing, or jog-trot, over hill and down dale, with a heavy basket on their heads and baby swung over their shoulders. In this way they will make six miles an hour and will beat the average mule. Some of the more fortunate ones come leading or driving mules with loads almost as large as themselves, but the owners themselves walk. This gives them, however, a chance to ride on the return to their humble cottage home.
The women are not without their faults for they can smoke to their heart’s content. There is no law against it and custom seems rather to approve of the vice. It is not only a common sight to see them smoking cigarettes but cigars as well. One day I saw a mother with three children, two boys and a girl, and the oldest one not more than nine or ten years of age, each puffing away at a big fat cigar that was black enough to appal the average man smoker. There is a naturalness and simplicity in their manner that rather astonishes an American when he happens to stumble upon a group of them bathing without any regard for the simple clothing that would be considered necessary at Atlantic City, and they are not afraid of strangers either. Then one can see them nursing their babies and searching for specimens in the little youngster’s hair at the same time. Yet this absence of prudishness or unnaturalness does not mean an absence of the virtues, although morality has not yet reached an ideal stage.