NILOTIC NEGROES 



783 



pattern peequently shaved on" 

 men's heads (ja-luo) 



this tail behind and receives a present [ 

 from her husband. Afterwards it is con- 

 sidered very bad manners for a married 

 woman to serve food to her husband 

 without putting on this tail. On the 

 other hand, if the husband or any other 

 man should touch the married woman's 

 tail, it is considered that he wishes to 

 bewitch her, and such an offence must 

 be atoned for by the usual sacriiice of 

 a goat. 



The Ja-luo pull out the incisors in 

 the lower jaw. It may also occur amongst i 

 these people, as amongst the Lango 

 tribes to the north, that not only the four 

 incisors, but even the canines, are taken 

 out, at any rate from the mouths of '*3°- 

 boys. They do not circumcise, nor do 

 they scar or tattoo their bodies, with the exception that women raise 

 three parallel lines of dots in a semi-circle' on either side of the bod}', 

 the ends of the semi-circle meeting in front just below the navel, and 

 again on the backbone. If a man has killed an enemy in war, he pro- 

 pitiates his enemy's spirit by shaving his head for three days after his 

 return. Heads of men are also shaved in the pattern given in the 

 accompanying illustration (Fig. 430). 



The Ja-luo, together with tribes remotely allied in origin, such as the 

 Silk and Lango, ornament the outer rim of the ear in a remarkable 

 manner. About fifteen small holes are pierced along the edge of the 

 cartilage, and a flattened ring of brass (looking in shape rather like a 

 melon seed) is inserted. Hanging on the outer side of the brass ring is 

 a large blue glass bead. In the lowest hole towards the lobe a plain 

 brass ring is inserted. Eegarding these blue beads jMr. Hobley writes : 

 " For a long time I thought these blue beads were ordinary trade beads 

 of the variety known as ' kiketi ' ; but upon inquiry' I found this idea 

 was indignantly repudiated. It was explained to me that the beads were 

 picked up in the fields in the neighbourhood of the Maragolia Hills * 

 after a heavy thunderstorm, and it was believed that they descended with 

 the rain." Some of the chiefs also wear bits of jasper and chalcedony 

 with a fine circular hole. These beads were formerly of great value, and 

 were purchased at the rate of one cow per bead. They are said to 

 have been picked up in the same way. Their name for these beads is 



* In North Kavirondo. 



