DRESS AND DWELLINGS 215 



fessional louse hunters paid at so much a head ; 

 and I have seen ingenious traps for lice, worn on 

 the head, not unlike a gardener's trap for earwigs. 



It is the fashion in some parts of Angola to 

 produce flat and pendulous breasts by tying a 

 band round the upper part. With these long 

 breasts the mother can, whilst walking, suckle the 

 baby carried on her back. 



The scantiness of clothing and bedding all 

 conduce to want of cleanliness in the person of 

 the Angolan native, as he considers that bathing 

 opens the pores of his skin and is thus harmful, 

 while by greasing his body he renders it less liable 

 to cold. 



The African, even when cleanly in his habits, 

 lias a strong and peculiar odour, due to special 

 sebaceous glands under his armpits. This scent, 

 which a witty Frenchman once called " Bouquet 

 d'Afriquc," is so powerful that I have been able 

 to tell when my negro servants had been in my 

 tent ; and on a still day and in thick grass the 

 scent of the carriers has overpowered me when 

 following a path among them. Animals unused 

 to it, such as European dogs, dislike the negro's 

 odour unmistakably ; but it is stated with some 

 conviction that wild animals can scent a while 

 nnii much farther than a black, and the blacks 

 say the white man smells badly to them. 



The tribes of the uplands, like the Bailundos 

 and Bihes living in a colder climate, scarcely wear 

 more clothes than those who live near the Congo 

 or the coast ; but their dress is warmer, as it 

 usually consist of skins. The Mushicongos, Mn- 



