THE FRIENDLY AND INTERESTING MELA. 255 
Their bodies were slender, eyes small, features irregular 
and ugly, and more of the negro than the Hamitic type. 
The men were uncircumcised, and neither sex was muti- 
lated in any way, excepting in a few instances where the 
men had large plugs of wood passed through the lobes of 
their ears. The Mela possessed neither beads nor orna- 
ments of any description that were not of their own manu- 
facture. About one native out of ten had an iron ornament 
of some kind, and when I asked them where they obtained 
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the iron, they pointed toward the country of the Murtu. 
Of other ornaments made by themselves they had a great 
variety, — neat little snuff-boxes made of ivory, and sus- 
pended around their necks; bracelets made from the tusks 
of elephants and lion’s teeth ; wooden combs with various 
feathers attached; and belts made of rows of red_ seed. 
Turtle-shells were attached to the belts in some cases. 
Many of the youth wore pieces of skin taken from the 
heads of geats, with the horns attached in the shape of 
crowns, the horns pointing upward from their foreheads 
and making them look quite like devils. 
