XIII 
A SOJOURN AT RES HI AT AND RERE 
305 
is reached. The settlement consists of several large kraals 
near the river. It is not a pleasant place, as there are no trees 
at this point on the left bank ; however, as I knew of no better 
near, after searching in vain for some more suitable spot, we 
camped on the high bank overlooking the river. The latter is 
deep, broad, and dark-coloured, with a slow current, and looks 
navigable here, but the natives only seem to use their few dug- 
outs for ferrying across. Numbers of crocodiles are always 
visible in mid-stream, floating lazily with more or less of the 
upper part of their heads above water. 
These were the least attractive people I had seen ; very 
black, ugly, and not too civil, though at the same time not 
offensive. The women are disfigured by way of ornament, in 
the most ghastly fashion. The lower lip is separated from the 
mouth by a slit extending from corner to corner, and into this 
gash a section of the thick end of a cow’s horn, two or three 
inches long, is inserted, the severed part of the lip being stretched 
over the edge of the upper opening of the horn (of oval section), 
the hollow of which is closed by a saucer-shaped piece of wood 
fitted into it, while the rest of the horn depends in front of the 
chin. They are a most revolting sight to look upon ; and they 
appear to be conscious of it themselves, for I have often seen 
one put her hand up in front of her mouth to hide the dis¬ 
gusting appearance from our astonished gaze. Nothing I had 
ever seen brought home to me so emphatically that we had 
indeed penetrated into the heart of savagedom. Some even 
have a similar ornament, though on a somewhat less ex¬ 
aggerated scale, in the upper lip as well. Some of the men 
affect a miniature horn-like ornament attached by perforation 
of the centre of the lip just above the chin ; but this does not 
distort the mouth. 
There were cultivated lands of some extent in the vicinity 
of these villages; but the only ones now under crop were the 
low narrow terraces on the immediate brink of the river. 
These, naturally irrigated when the river is high, grow magnifi- 
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