XIII ETHIOPIAN FASHIONS IN HAIR-DRESSING 157 
Among the Nandi the mode of treating the hair is 
full of meaning. The women and children have their 
heads regularly shaved, but in some instances a patch 
of short hair is left on the crown. 
The warriors let their hair grow long and plait the 
front locks into tags, which are allowed to hang over 
the forehead, like the Masai. Occasionally it is plaited 
into one big pig-tail behind. 
The Nandi also shave their 
eyebrows, and hair on the 
remainder of the body is 
plucked out. 
They shave their heads as 
a sign of grief, and throw the 
hair after removal in special 
directions, or carefully hide it. 
Many of these silly customs 
remind us of the superstitions 
held in many English villages 
concerning the disposal of 
teeth after extraction. 
Among the Nandi there are 
special rules concerning the 
treatment of hair, such as 
shaving as a sign of mourn¬ 
ing, and of defeat in war. 
It is also of significance in 
circumcision, and in relation ^ wearing a cap 
j 1 *1 T 1 • ,1 made out of a goat s paunch, 
to marriage and child-birth. to protect him from rain. 
Many of these matters have 
been elucidated with much care by Hollis in his useful 
and valuable work on the language and folk-lore of the 
Nandi (1909). 
Some of the tribes, neighbours to the Kavirondos, 
dress their hair in the extraordinary style of the Suk 
and Turkana. The specimen I have been able to 
examine, thanks to the kindness of Major Powell- 
Cotton, belonged to a Karaniojo. The hair is trained 
