x ORNAMENTS FOR THE EARS AND LIPS 127 



bored through his ear " with an aul " (Exodus xxi. 6). 

 Ear-marking is a very old custom. 



I/ijt ()riniin<'iitx or 1,'ihfctx. Some African tribes. 

 especially those living in the Nile Valley, follow the 

 practice of decorating the upper or the lower lip by 

 piercing it and subsequently dilating the hole until it 

 will accommodate a plug of wood in some instances as 

 large as that used by the Masai and \Va-Kikuyu for 

 their ears. Several African travellers have drawn 

 attention to this fashion, especially Schweinfurth in his 



A native of the Makomle plateau with a 

 labret and ear plugs. (From Weule's 

 Native Life in Ea#t Africa.} 



description of the Bongo and Mittoo women (1873) and 

 more recently by Weule, who observed it among the 

 tribes inhabiting the Makonde plateau and the sur- 

 rounding country. 



