xiii A SOJOURN AT RESHIAT AND KERE 305 



is reached. The settlement consists of several large kraals 

 near the river. It is not a pleasant place, as there are no trees 

 at this point on the left bank ; however, as I knew of no better 

 near, after searching in vain for some more suitable spot, we 

 camped on the high bank overlooking the river. The latter is 

 deep, broad, and dark-coloured, with a slow current, and looks 

 navigable here, but the natives only seem to use their few dug- 

 outs for ferrying across. Numbers of crocodiles are always 

 visible in mid-stream, floating lazily with more or less of the 

 upper part of their heads above water. 



These were the least attractive people I had seen ; very 

 black, ugly, and not too civil, though at the same time not 

 offensive. The women are disfigured by way of ornament, in 

 the most ghastly fashion. The lower lip is separated from the 

 mouth by a slit extending from corner to corner, and into this 

 gash a section of the thick end of a cow's horn, two or three 

 inches long, is inserted, the severed part of the lip being stretched 

 over the edge of the upper opening of the horn (of oval section), 

 the hollow of which is closed by a saucer-shaped piece of wood 

 fitted into it, while the rest of the horn depends in front of the 

 chin. They are a most revolting sight to look upon ; and they 

 appear to be conscious of it themselves, for I have often seen 

 one put her hand up in front of her mouth to hide the dis- 

 gusting appearance from our astonished gaze. Nothing I had 

 ever seen brought home to me so emphatically that we had 

 indeed penetrated into the heart of savagedom. Some even 

 have a similar ornament, though on a somewhat less ex- 

 aggerated scale, in the upper lip as well. Some of the men 

 affect a miniature horn-like ornament attached by perforation 

 of the centre of the lip just above the chin ; but this does not 

 distort the mouth. 



There were cultivated lands of some extent in the vicinity 

 of these villages ; but the only ones now under crop were the 

 low narrow terraces on the immediate brink of the river. 

 These, naturally irrigated when the river is high, grow magnifi- 



X 



