164 



EASTERN ETHIOPIA 



XIII 



The scalp of a Ja-luo man with 

 a pattern shaved upon it. (After 

 Hobley.) 



practice of arranging the hair is dying out because the 



neighbouring tribes laugh so much at their grotesque 



appearance. The fact that 



this fashion is disappearing 



induced me to mention it in 



this book. Dr. Holub visited 



the Mashukulumbi country 



1883-1887 and published an 



interesting account of the 



natives. His book contains 



numerous figures of their 



curious chignons. 



A singular method of shav- 

 ing the head prevails among 



the Ja-luo. If a man kills 



an enemy in war, in order to 



propitiate the spirit of the 

 dead man, the slayer 

 shaves his head for three 

 days on returning to the 

 village. The men also 

 shave their heads in 

 curious patterns. 



The Ja-luo ornament 

 their ears in a peculiar 

 way. They insert a num- 

 ber of rings along the 

 helix, sometimes as many 

 as fifteen may be counted 

 in one ear. The rings 

 bear a small bead known 

 as Nya-luo ; the majority 

 are blue. They differ from 

 the usual trade article. 

 The natives state that 

 they find them in the 

 Maragolia Hills after a 



The ear of a Ja-luo chief ornamented i . i i 



with rings bearing beads. heavy thunderstorm ; they 



