BORANA ORNAMENTS 



about half an inch in thickness, but this type does 

 not appear to be common. Necklaces vary greatly 

 in length and material. Very popular are those com- 

 posed of cowrie shells, strung on a piece of fibre or 

 gut, often 30 inches in length, which is worn round 

 the neck or even carried in the hand. Another form, 

 which is highly valued, consists of a series of white 

 metal cubes, alternating with crimson or yellow glass 

 beads, strung on the hairs taken from the tail of an 

 elephant or giraffe. Rings cut from the horn of a 

 rhinoceros are also regarded with great favour. All 

 these ornaments, and many others of a similar nature, 

 are worn by both men and women. The dress of the 

 latter is slightly more elaborate than that used by 

 the men. I am not quite clear as to the shape and 

 number of garments, but they appear to wear a short 

 skirt or kilt of white cotton, and a loose bodice of 

 the same material draped over the right shoulder and 

 under the left arm. In cold weather a long cloth is 

 worn like a cape, covering the figure from head to 

 foot. The ends of the cloth are worked loose by 

 hand, and twisted into a kind of fringe. Being, 

 unlike the Somali, indescribably filthy in their 

 personal habits, the white cotton they wear soon 

 becomes a dirty and unpleasing brown. 



The weapons carried by the men consist of a 

 spear, 8 or 9 feet long, with a broad-leafed iron blade, 

 with high median ridge, but blunt and clumsily 

 forged, and also of a bow and arrows in a quiver, and 

 a short knife. The general appearance of the bow 

 and quiver is very similar to that used by the Somali 

 hunter, except that the latter has no cap. Attached 

 to the quiver is a bag of beautifully dressed goatskin 

 (8 inches long by 6 inches deep), deep red in colour 



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