Chap. XV. MODES OF DRESSING THE HAIR. 287 



The hair on these towers has a parting- in the 

 middle and on the sides, which is very neatly done. 

 The whole structure must require years of careful 

 training before it reaches the perfection attained by 

 the leaders of Ishogo fashion. A really good chignon 

 is not attained until the owner is about twenty or 

 twenty-five years of age. It is the chief object of 

 ambition with the young Ishogo women to possess 

 a good well-trained and well-greased tower of hair of 

 the kind that I describe. Some women are fjir better 

 dressers of hair than others, and are much sought for 

 — the fixing and cleaning of the hair requiring a 

 long day's work. 



The woman who desires to have her hair dressed 

 must either pay the hair-dresser or must promise to per- 

 form the same kind office to her neighbour in return. 



Once fixed, these chignons remain for a couple of 

 months without requiring to be re-arranged, and the 

 mass of insect life that accumulates in them during 

 that period is truly astonishing. However, the women 

 make use of their large iron or ivory hair])ins (which 

 I described in ' Equatorial Africa ') in the place of 

 combs. The fashion of the '"'■chignon'''' was unknown 

 when I left Europe, so that to the belles of Africa 

 belongs the* credit of the invention The women 

 wear no ornaments in the ears, and I saw none who 

 had their ears pierced ; they are very different from 

 the Apingi in this respect. Like the women of other 

 •tribes, they are not allowed to wear more than two 

 denguis, or pieces of grass-cloth, by way of petticoat. 

 This stinted clothing has a ludicrous effect in the fat 

 dames, as the pieces do not then meet well in the middle. 



