866 
IDEA OF FEMALE BEAUTY. 
forest, the owner would givo it a beating, by way of tea«i< 
ing it not to be guilty of crowing at unseasonable hours. 
Tho women hero arc in tho habit of piercing tho upper 
lip and gradually enlarging tho orifico until thoy can insort 
a sholl. Tho lip thon appears drawn out beyond tho per- 
pendicular of tho noso, and gives them a most ungainly 
aspect. Sokwobu remarked, “ Thoso womon want to make 
tho. ; r mouths lilto thoso of ducks;” and, indeed, it does 
appear as if thoy had tho idea that fcmalo beauty of lip 
had been attained by tbo Omithorhynchus 'paradoxus alone. 
This custom prevails throughout the country of tho Maravi, 
and no one could see it without confessing that fashion had 
nover led womon to a freak more mad. Wo had rains now 
every day, and considerable cloudiness ; but the sun often 
burst through with scorching intensity. All call out against 
it then, saying, “ Oh, the sun •! that is rain again.” It is 
worth noticing that my companions nover complained of 
tho heat while on tho highlands; but when wo descended 
into tho lowlands of Angola,. and hero also, thoy began to 
fret on account of it. I myself felt an oppressive steami- 
ness in tho atmosphere which I had not experienced on 
tho higher lands. 
As tho game was abundant and my party very largo, I 
had still to supply their wants with tho gun. Wo slaugh- 
tered tho oxen only when unsuccessful in hunting. Wo 
alw r ays ontcrod into friendly relations with tho head-men 
of tho different villagos, and thoy presented grain and otbor 
food frooly. One man gavo a basinful of rice, — tho first 
we mot with in tho country. It is never seen in the in- 
terior. lie said ho know it was “white man’s corn,” and, 
whon I wished to buy some moro, ho asked mo to givo him 
& slave. This was tho first symptom of tho slavo-trado on 
this side of tho country. Tho last of theso friendly head 
men was named Mobala ; and, having passed him in peace, 
wo had no anticipation of any thing else ; but after a few 
hours wo reached Sclolo or Chilole, and found that bo not 
only considered us enemies, but had actually sont an ox- 
