80 PECULIARITIES OF DRESS, [1843 



pleasing, even pretty, but the females mostly seen during 

 our tour of the island were of the lowest order, ill- 

 looking, dirty, and bare-legged. 



Amongst the males the mode of dressing the hair, 

 which is generally performed by a youthful valet, appears 

 not only to engross much time, but also to require some 

 dexterity to arrive at the pink of fashion ; after manipu- 

 lating with an oleaginous matter, their long black hair is 

 worked up evenly on all sides towards the crown of the 

 head, where the operator, confining it with one hand, 

 continues to pass turns of silk band between the hand* 

 and head, straining every hair to its root, and apparently 

 causing some little moisture to flow from the eyes ; it is 

 then tied, and he proceeds to comb out the remainder, 

 and, doubling it back over two fingers, expands the 

 remainder of the tail over the ligature on the crown, and 

 passing the kamesashee and oosesashee through the under 

 part of the tied hair, confines the top-knot securely. It 

 is an elaborate process, and exhibits a considerable 

 degree of neatness and cleanliness. The moustache, as 

 well as the hair on the chin, is suffered to grow to its 

 natural length ; but all the hair and whisker to the tip 

 of the chin is closely shaved. 



Throughout the Islands, the construction of their 

 villages appeared to be nearly similar, the houses being 

 arranged within the squares or parallelograms, intersected 

 by narrow lanes or streets, bounded by stone walls. 

 Each house appears to stand separate, with a neat and 

 picturesque garden of shrubs and shady trees ; they are 

 constructed of massive wooden frame-work, and slightly 

 raised above the earth, having a very sharp-pitched 



