The Islanders, near the Philippines, take the hand or foot of him they
salute, and with it they gently rub their face. The Laplanders apply
their nose strongly against that of the person they salute. Dampier
says, that at New Guinea they are satisfied to put on their heads the
leaves of trees, which have ever passed for symbols of friendship and
peace. This is at least a picturesque salute.
Other salutations are very incommodious and painful; it requires great
practice to enable a man to be polite in an island situated in the
straits of the Sound. Houtman tells us they saluted him in this
grotesque manner: "They raised his left foot, which they passed gently
over the right leg, and from thence over his face." The inhabitants of
the Philippines use a most complex attitude; they bend their body very
low, place their hands on their cheeks, and raise at the same time one
foot in the air with their knee bent.
An Ethiopian takes the robe of another, and ties it about his own waist,
so that he leaves his friend half naked. This custom of undressing on
these occasions takes other forms; sometimes men place themselves naked
before the person whom they salute; it is to show their humility, and
that they are unworthy of appearing in his presence. This was practised
before Sir Joseph Banks, when he received the visits of two female
Otaheitans. Their innocent simplicity, no doubt, did not appear immodest
in the eyes of the _virtuoso_.
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