MATERIAL CONDITIONS 47 



corset is made to open partially or completely down 

 the front, but is often worn continuously for long 

 periods. She wears her hair tied in a knot at the 

 back of her head. 



The principal garment of the women of all the 

 other peoples is a skirt of bark or cotton cloth, 

 which is tied by a string a little below the level of 

 the crest of the hip bone ; it reaches almost to the 

 ankle, but is open at the left side along its whole 

 depth. It is thus a large apron rather than a skirt. 

 When the woman is at work in the house or 

 elsewhere, she tucks up the apron by drawing the 

 front flap backwards between her legs, and tucking 

 it tightly into the band behind, thus reducing it to 

 the proportions and appearance of a small pair of 

 bathing-drawers. Each woman possesses also a 

 long-sleeved, long- bodied jacket of white cotton 

 similar to that worn by the men ; this coat is 

 generally worn by both sexes when working in the 

 fields or travelling in boats, chiefly as a protection 

 against the rays of the sun. The women wear also 

 a large mushroom-shaped hat similar to that worn 

 by the men. With few exceptions all the women 

 allow the hair to grow uncut and to fall naturally 

 from the ridge of the cranium, confined only by a 

 circular band of rattan or beadwork passing over 

 the occiput and just above the eyebrows. 



The principal ornaments of the women are neck- 

 laces and girdles of beads, earrings, and bracelets. 

 A well-to-do Kayan woman may wear a large 

 number of valuable beads (see Pis. 28 and 31). The 

 bracelets are of ivory, and both forearms are some- 

 times completely sheathed in series of such bracelets. 

 jThe ear-rings are the most distinctive feature of the 

 Kayan woman's adornment. The perforated lobes of 

 the ears are gradually drawn down during childhood 

 and youth, until each lobe forms a slender loop 

 which reaches to the collar-bone, or lower. Each 



