however, think just the reverse, and accordingly shave their heads 

 quite close, and as this used to be performed with either a sharp 

 flint or the fine edge of a shell, the operation must have been some- 

 what painful and prolonged, and is a proof of what a price people 

 will pay to be m the fashion. Curiously enough, the men wear 

 the most elaboraie coifl'eur, wiiich requires great art in building 

 up, and is destined to last a whole life time, thus reversing our 

 idea of the proper fashion for dressing the hair of the two sexe^^, 

 for men wear the hair long, women short. The men, too, wear a 

 long bone, or wooden pin thrust through their locks, but this pro- 

 bably is not entirely for ornament. Some of the African tribes 

 consider eyebrows unbecoming to a woman, so they are carefully 

 eradicated with pinchers. Just now red hair happens to be in 

 fashion, and many ladies and some savages (notably in the Pacific 

 Islands) convert their naturally dark hair into a tawny red, by 

 means of lime, and other ingredients. I remember the time when 

 red hair was almost a reproach to a woman. Nor can we men 

 boast much, for the way we cultivate, or shave off, or trim, or 

 stiffen, our beards and moustaches, is as unreasonable and caprici- 

 ous as any of the vagaries of female fashion. 



One would have thought the teeth, on whose soundness so much 

 of our health and comfort depends, would have been left alone, but 

 various African tribes modify them in every conceivable manner ; 

 thus we have teeth pointed, serrated, filed flat and even, or made 

 to show the darker dentine beneath by filing off the enamel. Many 

 tribes consider white teeth extremely ugly {i.e. unfashionable), and 

 stain them black or yellow; others not only stain them, but drill holes 

 through them with infinite labour and insert plugs of brass or gold, 

 which being kept bright by the friction of the lips, produce no 

 doubt a very brilliant effect. 



There is no fashion more universal than piercing the ears, 

 and inserting various forms of ornament in the aperture. Our 

 ladies have not yet come to wearing nose-rings, though no 

 doubt, they would do it if some English Princess or Parisian 

 notoriety were to set the example. Civilized women moreover 

 do not wilfully enlarge the opening in the lobe of the ear more 

 than necessary for the insertion of a small ring. Now in New 

 Zealand the hole of the ear is gradually enlarged by progressive 

 stretching, until a well-dressed, or tattoed man of fashion can in 

 some instances put his arms through them. Ordinarily they are 

 used as pockets, and pipes, chisels, teeth, and nails of dead 

 relatives, the eyes of a slain enemy, or any little odd trifle of that 

 kind is inserted into them. Some Mexican tribes fill them up with 

 bone or polished wood. The lip is too tempting a part to escape 

 mutilation. Some of the Indians of S. Brazil, insert long plugs 



