NATIVE WOMAN’S HEAD-DRESS 249 
fat. They also smear their bodies with this same mixture, thus 
imparting a red colour to their general appearance similar to 
the Macheeayee on the Chobe. 
The few women we saw were monstrously ugly, and appear 
withered at an early age. They tie long strips of twisted bast 
to the end of their crinkling hair, ornamented with glass beads 
from Europe, and little discs cut from the shell of ostrich eggs, 
letting the whole mass, well greased, fall in a cascade down 
their backs, producing a c waterfall ’ effect not unlike that of their 
more civilised sisters during the schoolday period of their lives. 
The Mombokooshus grow corn, mealies, and pumpkins, and 
keep small troops of cattle. They are expert fishermen, and are 
marvellously dexterous in handling their small canoes, made 
from the single stem of a tree, standing erect while paddling, 
one at the bow and one at the stern, and sending the little 
structure along at great speed by vigorous strokes, securely de¬ 
livered by means of their long paddles. 
