102 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMAN.TAEO AND MERU 



two peas, especially when, prepared for the dance, he is smeared 

 with red grease, and carries his shield and spear instead of his 

 gun. 



The girls wear a petticoat of tanned and dressed goatskin, 

 which sometimes hangs down below the thighs. The upper 

 portion is often quite prettily trimmed with Ijeads. These 

 Taveta maidens are particularly fond of neck ornaments, and 

 sometimes wear necklaces made of more than a hundred strino-s 

 of beads twisted toofetlier. In the widened lobes of the ears 

 they insert a piece of fresh banana-leaf rolled up like a quill, 

 or a round bit of wood ; and, of course, the usual bracelets and 

 anklets of brass and iron wire are not wanting. Like the men, 

 the young women smear the nude portions of their bodies 

 with a preparation of red earth and fat, presenting in our 

 eyes a most terrible appearance; but in that of their fellow 

 Wataveta a thick layer of grease gives a delicate finish to the 

 o-et-up. 



The older women wear, in addition to the petticoat, a 

 second garment, partly covering the upper portion of the 

 bod}" ; and some few ancient dames have lately adopted the 

 cotton drapery, wrapped tightly about the bust in the style 

 of the bibis of Zanzibar. One much-admired ear ornament 

 worn by married people of both sexes consists of thick 

 brass wire wound round in spiral fashion till it forms a circle 

 about four inches in diameter. These coils being too heavy 

 for the lobe of the ear, from which they hang, are connected 

 by a band, which rests upon the neck and keeps them in 

 position. 



It is difficult to estimate the number of the inhabitants of 

 Taveta, for they are very much scattered in the forest ; but 

 they must exceed 1,500. As we noted when the compulsory 

 hongos, or presents, were given at the beginning of our stay 

 amongst them, the Wataveta are a patriarchal community, in 



