41 8 MODES OF DRESSING THE HAIR. 



except for the purpose of cheating : thus, a man gave me 

 a fowl and some meal, and, after a short time, returned. 

 I offered him a handsome present of beads ; but these he 

 declined, and demanded a cloth instead, which was far 

 more than the value of his gift. They did the same with 

 my men, until we had to refuse presents altogether. 

 Others made high demands because I slept in a " house of 

 cloth," and must be rich. They seemed to think that 

 they had a perfect right to payment, for simply passing 

 through the country. 



Beyond the Chikapa, we crossed the Kamdue, a small 

 deep stream, proceeding from the S.S.W., and flowing into 

 the Chikapa. 



On the 30th of April we reached the Loajima, where we 

 had to form a bridge to effect our passage. This was not 

 so difficult an operation as some might imagine ; for a 

 tree was growing in a horizontal position across part of 

 the stream, and, there being no want of the tough chmbing 

 plants which admit of being knitted like ropes, Senhor P. 

 soon constructed a bridge. The Iyoajima was here about 

 twenty-five yards wide, but very much deeper than where 

 I had crossed before on the shoulders of Mashauana. The 

 last rain of the season had fallen on the 28th, and had 

 suddenly been followed by a great decrease of the tem- 

 perature. The people in these parts seemed more slender 

 in form, and their colour a lighter olive, than any we had 

 hitherto met. The mode of dressing the great masses of 

 woolly hair which lay upon their shoulders, together with 

 their general features, again reminded me of the ancient 

 Egyptians. Several were seen with the upward inclination 

 of the outer angles of the eyes, but this was not general. 

 A few of the ladies adopt a curious custom of attaching 

 the hair to a hoop which encircles the head, giving it 

 somewhat the appearance of the glory round the head of 

 the Virgin. Some have a small hoop behind. Others 

 wear an ornament of woven hair and hide adorned with 

 beads. The hair of the tails of buffaloes, which are to be 

 found further east, is sometimes added ; while others 

 weave their own hair on pieces of hide into the form of 

 buffalo-horns, or, make a single horn in front. Many 

 tattoo their bodies by inserting some black substance 

 beneath the skin, which leaves an elevated cicatrix about 

 half an inch long ; these are made in the form of stars, 

 and other figures, of no particular beauty. 



