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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



neck of the giraffe. Naturally, these are stiff, angular, and elastic. 

 When wanted for use it is steeped in hot water until quite soft, and 

 then beaten between stones. This separates it into filaments of any 

 fineness and very strong. The sinew is used wet and so is the leath- 

 er ; when dry, the seams are very tight and close (Wood). 



The Kaffir also wears an apron called an isinene. This is 

 simply a waist-girdle to which are hung trophies. Though these 

 are supposed to be tails of the leopard, lion, or buffalo, they are 

 seldom really such. One specimen was made up of fourteen tails 

 of twisted monkey-skin, each about fourteen inches long, finely 

 sewed to a belt of the same material covered with red and white 

 beads. Across the belt. were two rows of brass buttons. Among 

 the Polynesians the common dress is the liku, a fringed girdle of 

 thongs of some vegetable material. These thongs may be of no 

 greater coarseness than pack-thread, or they may be of some 



width and neatly crimped. 

 Feather garments are fre- 

 quently of great beauty. 

 The finest come from South 

 America and the south seas. 

 A Mundurucu apron con- 

 sisted of a backing of cot- 

 ton string into which were 

 worked feathers : a band of 

 jetty black at the lower 

 end, above it bright yel- 

 low, and then scarlet with 

 blue and yellow pattern in 

 it ; the upper edge was set 

 with brilliant beetle elytra. 

 The most famous feather 

 mantles were those made 

 for royal use in Hawaii, 

 consisting of mesh - work 

 into which were worked 

 feathers of the yellow meli- 

 threptes. Only two of these 

 feathers were produced at one time by one bird, and the man- 

 tles were valued at an almost fabulous price. Last of these 

 descriptions we may quote what Schweinfurth says of the cos- 

 tume of King Munza, of Africa, on state occasions. He wore a 

 plumed hat on top of his chignon, reaching one foot and a half 

 above his head. This hat was a narrow cylinder of closely plaited 

 reeds, ornamented with three layers of red parrot feathers and 

 crowned with a plume of the same ; it had no brim ; he wore a 

 copper crescent in front. His ear muscles were pierced, and 



Fig. 9. South Sea Islander with Liku. 



