THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 135 



of weapons ; and they carry a neatly made miniature stool slung 

 upon their backs, in addition to an immense pipe. Thus a man 

 carries all that he most values about his person. The females in 

 this tribe are not absolutely naked ; like those of the Kytch, they 

 wear small lappets of tanned leather as broad as the hand ; at 

 the back of the belt, which supports this apron, is a tail which 

 reaches to the lower portions of the thighs ; this tail is formed of 

 finely-cut strips of leather, and the costume has doubtless been 

 the foundation for the report I had received from the Arabs, 

 that a tribe in Central Africa had tails like horses. The women 

 carry their children very conveniently in a skin slung from their 

 shoulders across the back, and secured by a thong round the 

 waist ; in this the young savage sits delightfully. The huts 

 throughout all tribes are circular, with entrances so low that the 

 natives creep both in and out upon their hands and knees. The 

 men wear tufts of cock's feathers on the crown of the head, and 

 their favorite attitude, when standing, is on one leg while leaning 

 on a spear, the foot of the raised leg resting on the inside of the 

 other knee. Their arrows are about three feet long, without 

 feathers, and pointed with bard wood instead of iron, the metal 

 being scarce among the Shir tribe. The most valuable article of 

 barter for this tribe is the iron hoe generally used among the 

 White Nile negroes. Tn form it is precisely similar to the 'ace 

 of spades.' The finery most prized by the women are polished 

 iron anklets, which they wear in such numbers that they reach 

 nearly half-way up the calf of the leg ; the tinkling of these 

 rings is considered to be very enticing, but the sound reminds 

 one of the clanking of convicts' fetters." 



