160 REV. FATHEK FRANZ MAYR. 



This ring of fibi'e is then covered with the viscous material 

 (ungiyane) obtained from the sticky secretion of a scale- 

 insect which lives on the thorn bush — Dalbergia o bo vat a 

 (umzungulu). Afterwards it is polished with a pebl)le 

 until it shines like a well-polished boot. 



The man with the head-ring is called ikehla. Formerly 

 it was the sign of attaining manhood, and it gave the young 

 man royal right to look for a wife. The time for putting on 

 the head-ring", known as ukutunga, was announced to the 

 young men by the Zulu king. To touch a man's head-ring 

 disrespectfully was the greatest insult possible ; and formerly 

 such a deed was often revenged by putting the offender to 

 death. 



Besides the head-ring, men of importance or warriors 

 would wear an ostrich feather ; eacli regiment would have a 

 uniform colour — all white, all black, etc. 



Another head ornament which Avas, and still is, very much 

 sought after is a bunch of tail-feathers of the large Kafir 

 finch or long-tailed widow bird (isakabuli). The bunch of 

 feathers may cover almost the whole of the head, and is called 

 isidhlodhlo. 



Headmen wore, and still wear, below the head-ring a circlet 

 of leopard, serval, otter, or other fur. 



(2) As neck ornaments the men of the royal family wore 

 circlets of lion or leopard claws. Eoyal princesses wore stiff 

 collars of heavy, solid, lu'ass rings, made by bending a brass 

 rod into a spiral of two or three turns. It was called 

 umnaka or ubedu. These collars must have been most 

 uncomfoi'table to wear, as the head could not be tiirned with- 

 out moving the whole bod3\ 



An ordinary Zulu woman would frequently wear around 

 the neck a fibre string carrying a perforated brass ball 

 (in don do) about an inch in diameter. The ball would hang 

 about at the level of top of the sternum. 



Sometimes a number of little sticks of the scented umtom- 

 boti tree (Excascaria africana) would be threaded on a 

 string to form a necklet; or large beads made of scent-})0wder 



