X 
ORNAMENTS FOR THE EARS AND LIPS 127 
bored through his ear “ with an aul ” (Exodus xxi. 6). 
Ear-marking is a very old custom. 
Lip Ornaments or Lahrets .—Some African tribes, 
especially those living in the Nile Valley, follow the 
practice of decorating the upper or the lower lip by 
piercing it and subsequently dilating the hole until it 
will accommodate a plug of wood in some instances as 
large as that used by the Masai and Wa-Kikuyu for 
their ears. Several African travellers have drawn 
attention to this fashion, especially Schweinfurth in his 
A native of the Makonde plateau with a ' 
labret and ear plugs. (From Wefde’s 
Native Life in East Africa.) 
description of the Bongo and Mittoo women (1873) and 
more recently by Weiile, who observed it among the 
tribes inhabiting the Makonde plateau and the sur¬ 
rounding country. 
