Note 506 — Chapter IV · CALIFORNIANS.
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On the Sacramento River 'the men universally had some show of a beard, an inch or so in length, but very soft and fine.' Pickering's Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 105. 'They had beards and whiskers an inch or two long, very soft and fine.' Wilkes' Nar., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. v., p. 198. On Russian River 'they have quite heavy moustaches and beards on the chin, but not much on the cheeks, and they almost all suffer it to grow.' The Clear Lake Indians 'have also considerable beards, and hair on the person.' At the head of South Fork of Eel River, 'they pluck their beards.' Gibbs, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., pp. 108-119. At Monterey 'plusieurs ont de la barbe; d'autres, suivant les pères missionaires, n'en ont jamais eu, et c'est un question qui n'est pas même décidée dans le pays.' La Pérouse, Voy., vol. ii., p. 282. 'Les Californiens ont la barbe plus fournie que les Chiliens, et les parties génitales mieux garnies: cependant j'ai remarqué, parmi les hommes, un grand nombre d'individus totalement dépourvus de barbe; les femmes ont aussi peu de poil au pénil et aux aisselles.' Rollin, in La Pérouse, Voy., vol. iv., p. 53. 'They have the habit common to all American Indians of extracting the beard and the hair of other parts of their body.' Farnham's Life in Cal., p. 364. Beards 'short, thin, and stiff.' Bartlett's Nar., vol. ii., p. 34. 'In general very scanty, although occasionally a full flowing beard is observed.' Forbes' Cal., pp. 181-2. 'Beards thin; many shave them close with mussel-shells.' Langsdorff's Voy., vol. ii., p. 164. 'Ihr Bart ist schwach.' Wimmel, Californien, vol. v. At San Antonio, 'in the olden times, before becoming christians, they pulled out their beards.' Taylor, in Cal. Farmer, April 27, 1860. Choris in his Voy. Pitt., plates vi., vii., xii., of part iii., draws the Indians with a very slight and scattered beard. 'Pluck out their beard.' Auger, Voy. in Cal., p. 165. 'Wear whiskers.' Thornton's Ogn. and Cal., vol. ii., p. 91. 'Les Indiens qui habitent dans la direction du cap de Nouvel-An (del Año Nuevo) ... ont des moustaches.' Fages, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1844, tom. ci., p. 335. Mühlenpfordt mentions that at the death of a relation, 'die Männer raufen Haupthaar und Bart sich aus.' Mejico, vol. ii., part ii., p. 456.