166 REPORT — 1860. 



and some wear a piece of bamboo about an inch long in it. Brass and iron bracelets, 

 elaborately figured, are seen ; and some of the men sport from two to eight brass 

 rings on each finger, and even the thumbs are not spared. They wear copper, brass, 

 and iron rings on their legs and arms ; many have their front teeth notched, and 

 some file them till they resemble the teeth of a saw. The upper lip ring of the 

 women gives them a revolting appearance; it is universally worn in the highlands. 

 A puncture is made high up in the lip, and it is gradually enlarged until the pelele 

 can be inserted. Some are very large. One we measured caused the lip to project 

 two inches beyond the tip of the nose ; when the lady smiled the contraction of the 

 muscles elevated it over the eyes. " Why do the women wear these things ?" the 

 venerable chief, Chinsurdi, was asked. Evidently surprised at such a stupid ques- 

 tion, he replied, " For beauty ! They are the only beautiful things women have ; 

 men have beards, women have none. What kind of a person would she be without 

 the pelele ? She would not he a woman at all with a mouth like a man, but no 

 beard." One woman having a large tin pelele with a bottom like a dish, refused to 

 sell it, because, she said, her husband would beat her if she went home without it. 

 These rings are made of bamboo, of iron, or of tin. Their scanty clothing — the 

 prepared bark of trees, the skins of animals (chiefly goats), and a thick strong cotton 

 cloth — are all of native manufacture. They seem to be an industrious race. Iron 

 is dug out of the hills, and every village has one or two smelting houses; and from 

 their own native iron they make excellent hoes, axes, spears, knives, arrow-heads, &c. 

 They make, also, round baskets of various sizes, and earthen pots, which they orna- 

 ment with plumbago, said to be found in the Hill Country, though we could not 

 learn exactly where, nor in what quantities : the only specimen we obtained was not 

 pure. At every fishing village on the banks of the river Shire' men were busy spin- 

 ning buaze and making large fishing-nets from it ; and from Chihisas to the Lake, 

 in every village almost, we saw men cleaning and spinning cotton, while others were 

 weaving it into strong cloth in looms of the simplest construction, all the processes 

 being excessively slow. This is a great cotton-growing country. The cotton is of 

 two kinds, " Tonji manga," or foreign cotton ; and " Tonji cadji," or native cotton. 

 The former is of good quality, with a staple from three-quarters to an inch in length. 

 It is perennial, requiring to be re-planted only once in three years. The native 

 cotton is planted every year in the highlands, is of short staple, and feels more like 

 wool than cotton. Every family appears to own a cotton patch, which is kept clear 

 of weeds and grass. We saw the foreign growing at the Lake and in various places 

 for 30 miles south of it, and about an equal number of miles below the cataracts on 

 the Lower Shire. Although the native cotton requires to be planted annually in the 

 highlands, the people prefer it, because, they say, " it makes the stronger cloth." 

 It was remarked to a number of intelligent natives near the Shire lakelet, " You 

 should plant plenty of cotton, and perhaps the English will come soon and buy it." 

 " Surely the country is full of cotton," said an elderly man, who was a trader and 

 travelled much. Our own observations convinced us of the truth of this statement. 

 Everywhere we saw it. Cotton patches of from 2 to 3 acres were seen abreast of 

 the cataracts during the first trip, when Lake Tamandua was discovered, though in 

 this journey, on a different route, none were observed of more than half an acre. 

 They usually contained about a quarter of an acre each. There are extensive tracts 

 on the level plains of both the Lower and Upper Shire, where salt exudes from the 

 soil. Sea island cotton might grow well there, as on these the foreign cotton be- 

 comes longer in the staple. The cotton-growers here never have their crops cut off 

 by frosts. There are none. Both kinds of cotton require but little labour, none of 

 that severe and killing toil requisite in the United States. The people are great 

 cultivators of the soil, and it repays them well. All the inhabitants of a village, 

 men, women, and children, and dogs, turn out at times to labour in the fields. The 

 chief told us all his people were out hoeing, and we saw in other parts many busy 

 at work. If a new piece of ground is to be cultivated, the labourer grasps as much 

 of the tall dry grass as he conveniently can, ties it into a knot at the top, strikes his 

 hoe through the roots, detaching them from the ground with some earth still adhering, 

 which, with the knot, keeps the grass in a standing position. He proceeds in this 

 way over the field. When this work is finished, the field exhibits a harvest-like 

 appearance, being thickly dotted all over with these shocks, which are 3 feet high. 



