VARIETY OF COIFFURE. 271 



and of which she takes no small amount of care, 

 is dressed in various fashions, fashion being as much 

 a controller of custom there as at home. When 

 first I visited Bechuana Land, all the ladies wore their 

 locks plaited into innumerable small plaits, which hung 

 down like a fringe around the head, under which the 

 ears were perfectly hidden. Each of these plaits after 

 being made was then abundantly lubricated so abun- 

 dantly, in fact, that from the end of all was frequently 

 suspended a drop of grease, which with heat and exer- 

 tion kept drip, drip, dripping upon the shoulders, 

 ultimately running in little channels down to the 

 waist. Now, however, the coiffure is of a different 

 fashion, the hair being teazled out fibre by fibre, 

 with a porcupine's quill, till their heads look as if 

 a gigantic mop had been placed upon them. On 

 the top, and in the centre of this redundant wig, a 

 pound or even more of animal grease is placed, 

 which has first been well kneaded with a metallic 

 substance extracted from the earth, and which re- 

 sembles small flakes of mica (sibilo) in brilliancy and 

 composition. A lounge in the sun for half-an-hour 

 causes this composition to dissolve, when the grease 

 finds its way over the body and leaves this greatest 



