COSTUME OF THE GRIQUAS AND BASTARDS. 127 



worn by the men consists of home-made leathern jacket, 

 waistcoat, and trowsers, fcldtchoens, or home-made 

 shoes, a Malay handkerchief tied round the head, and 

 on Sundays and other great occasions a shirt and a 

 neckcloth. The females wear a close-fitting corset 

 reaching to the small of the waist, below which they 

 sport a petticoat like the women of other countries. 

 These petticoats are sometimes made of stufls of Brit- 

 ish manufacture, and at other times of soft leather pre- 

 pared by themselves. Their head-dress consists of two 

 handkerchiefs, one of black silk, the other of a striped 

 red and green color, usually termed Malay handker- 

 chiefs. They are very fond of beads of every size and 

 color, which they hang in large necklaces round their 

 necks. They have one description of bead peculiar to 

 themselves and to the tribes extending along the banks 

 of the Great Orange River to its junction with the sea. 

 This bead is formed of the root of a bush found near 

 the mouth of the Orange River, and possesses a sweet 

 and peculiar perfume. Every Griqua girl wears at 

 least one of these ; and no traveler who has once learned 

 to prize this perfume can inhale it again without its in- 

 advertently recalling to his memory the fine dark eyes 

 and fair forms of the semi-civilized nymphs frequenting 

 the northern bank of the Orange stream. 



Their houses somewhat resemble a bee-hive or ant- 

 hill, consisting of boughs of trees stuck into the ground 

 in a circular form, and lashed down across one another 

 overhead so as to form a frame-work, on which they 

 spread large mats formed of reeds. These mats are 

 also used instead of wagon-sails, and arc very effectual 

 in resisting both sun and rain. The diameter of these 

 dome-shaped huts varies from ten to fifteen feet. On 

 changing their quarters, which they are occasionally 



