278 SENSIBLE OLD WOMAN. Chap. X. 



of the men. Our first definite information about Lake 

 Nyassa was obtained from her. Seeing us taking notes, 

 she remarked that she had been to the sea, and had there 

 seen white men writing. She had seen camels also, pro- 

 bably among the Arabs. She was the only Manganja 

 woman we ever met who was ashamed of wearing the 

 " pelele," or lip-ring. She retired to her hut, took it out, 



An old Manganja woman, showing the pelele, or lip-ring, and the tattooing in 

 intersecting lines on face, arms, and body. 



and kept her hand before her mouth to hide the hideous 

 hole in the lip while conversing with us. All the villagers 

 respected her, and even the headmen took a secondary 

 place in her presence. On inquiring for her now, we 

 found that she was dead. We never obtained sufficient 

 materials to estimate the relative mortality of the high- 



