ETHNOLOGY OF THE WASAGARA. 



235 



wilder nor a more characteristically African appearance 

 than this, especially when, smeared with a pomatum of 

 micaceous ochre, and decorated with beads, brass balls, 

 and similar ornaments, it waves and rattles with every 

 motion of the head. Young men and warriors adorn 

 their locks with the feathers of vultures, ostriches, and 

 a variety of bright-plumed jays, and some tribes twist 

 each ringlet with a string of reddish fibre. It is seldom 

 combed out, the operation requiring for a head of thick 

 hair the hard work of a whole day ; it is not, therefore, 

 surprising that the pediculus swarms through the land, 

 None but the chiefs wear caps. Both sexes distend the 

 ear-lobe ; a hole is bored with a needle or a thorn, it 

 is enlarged by inserting bits of cane, wood, or quills, 

 increasing the latter to the number of twenty, and it is 

 kept open by a disk of brass, ivory, wood, or gum, a 

 roll of leaf or a betel-nut ; thus deformed it serves for a 

 variety of purposes apparently foreign to the member ; 

 it often carries a cane snuff-box, sometimes a goat's- 

 horn pierced for a fife, and other small valuables. 

 When empty, especially in old age, it depends in a de- 

 formed loop to the shoulders. The peculiar mark of 

 the tribe is a number of confused little cuts between the 

 ears and the eyebrows. Some men, especially in the 

 eastern parts of the mountains, chip the teeth to 

 points. 



The dress of the Wasagara is a shukkah or loin-cloth, 

 6 feet long, passed round the waist in a single fold, — 

 otherwise walking would be difficult — drawn tight 

 behind, and with the fore extremities gathered up, and 

 tucked in over the stomach, where it is sometimes sup- 

 ported by a girdle of cord, leather, or brass wire : it is, 

 in fact, the Arab's " uzar. " On journeys it is pur- 

 posely made short and scanty for convenience of run- 



