THE TUBURI LAKES 79 



and their land has only recently come under the 

 effective occupation of the white man. It is the new 

 use of the waterway for transport that has hastened 

 this result, and as there are more goods than can 

 be brought by canoe, the natives are asked to be- 

 come carriers. 



A sergeant was stationed at Yue to collect men 

 for this purpose, but the people do not care for the 

 work, and they resent being pressed to do it. Why 

 should they like it ? They have no use for money. 

 They have no markets, and their needs are very few. 

 They grow, or hunt, what they eat, and their clothes 

 are scanty. 



The men wear a loin-cloth, made of some skin or 

 hide, which hangs behind, and has in the centre a 

 whisk of fur, like a tail, for adornment. The women 

 fasten long bark strands round the waist by a string, 

 so that it hangs in a mass at the back. They then 

 pass some of it between the legs and through the 

 string in front, so that it falls again in a fringe that 

 reaches to the knee. The unmarried girls have a 

 thick, patterned, blue-and-white bead apron, four or 

 five inches in depth, whilst behind two tiny bead 

 lappets hang on either side of the usual fibre dress. 



Some of the women wear lip - discs, and one had 

 the four corners of her mouth studded with nails 

 in addition. 



Both sexes are fond of finery, and wear bracelets, 

 ear-rings, armlets, necklets, and anklets. In fact, they 

 care just as much about personal appearance as any 

 Parisian belle. They pay elaborate attention to their 

 complexions, and both men and women grease the 

 skin to make its blackness blacker. 



