DECORATIVE ART 227 



Chinese traders at various dates. Some of them 

 are probably of Chinese manufacture, others prob- 

 ably came from the near East and even from Venice. 

 Some are of glass curiously marked and coloured, 

 others of stone inlaid with bits of different colours, 

 others of some hard substance whose composition 

 defies description. Certain rare kinds are especially 

 valued and can hardly be bought at any price ; 

 they are reckoned to be worth at least 100 dollars 

 apiece. The most valuable of all is known as 

 the lukut sekala ; the ownership of each such bead 

 is as accurately known throughout a large district 

 as the ownership of the masterpieces of ancient art 

 in our own country. The wife of a rich chief may 

 possess old beads to the value of thousands of 

 pounds, and will wear a large part of them on any 

 occasion of display (PI. 130). These old beads are 

 worn threaded together to form necklaces and 

 girdles, being arranged with some reference to 

 harmony of size and colour and to value, the most 

 valuable being placed in the middle where they will 

 be shown to best advantage. A single rare bead 

 is sometimes worn on the wrist. 



A woman who possesses a good stock of such 

 beads will seldom be seen without some of them on 

 her person. She will occasionally exchange a few 

 for other varieties, and is generally eager to add to 

 her collection ; she may occasionally make a present 

 of one or two to some highly esteemed friend or 

 relative, and will generally assign them, but without 

 handing them over, to various female relatives 

 before her death. 



Besides these valuable old beads there are in 

 use among all the tribes many small glass beads of 

 modern European manufacture. These are threaded 

 to form a variety of designs, generally in two 

 colours, the combination of black and yellow being 

 the most commonly preferred. These strips of bead- 



