(PL^iri 
ZULU KRAAL ON THE UMGANJ, WITH CATTLE AND SHEER. 
This scene is taken in one of the smaller kraals on the hanks of the Umgani River, in Natal. It shews the 
arrangement of the huts around the cattle-fold in the centre; the time of day is in the morning about ten o’clock, when 
the cattle are milked and driven out to pasture; a hoy is 
seen on the left side of the picture, milking a cow into one 
of the long wooden milk-jars used for that purpose. At the 
time of milking, a cord with a stick is introduced through 
the, nostrils of the animal to cause it to remain quiet. No 
sooner is the day's milking over, than the milk is poured 
from the wooden jars into calabashes, containing a small 
quantity of very acid curd, by which means the whole con¬ 
tents become rapidly converted into the “ thick milk,” or 
curds and whey, so much used as an article of food amongst 
the Kafirs. The cattle are conducted into the kraal by the 
sound of a shrill whistle, which they soon learn to follow. 
The Zulus are very fond of ornamenting their favourites 
amongst the herd by cutting their ears into fantastic shapes, 
slitting the dewlap, and cultivating excrescences, resembling 
buttons and tassels, upon the head and neck, by tying up 
the skin. The Amaponda and Amakdsa tribes usually display 
their taste by twisting the horns of their cattle, whilst grow¬ 
ing, into every possible variety of form, which causes them 
to present an unusually grotesque appearance. To the right 
is a group of Zulu sheep, a remarkable breed, differing con¬ 
siderably from the European, and having wool approaching 
to hair: their flesh is poor and hut little esteemed. Above 
the entrance to one of the huts is the skull of a heifer, 
indicating that it has been slaughtered on some late festive occasion. Several shield-sticks, surmounted by leopards 
tails, are stuck into the fence of the cattle kraal, whilst the Induna’s flag or signal, consisting of a civet-cat’s skin 
and a bunch of feathers, floats at the top of a pole, signifying that the Induna is at home. \\ hen a dance is to 
take place, or a party of visitors is expected to arrive, the inhabitants ot the kraal betake themselves to the toilette for 
many hours previously to the time appointed for the fete; both the young men and women dress their woolly locks with 
an astonishing degree of care, every curl being retouched and twisted with a mimosa thorn, and dressed with fat. The 
arrangement of their beads is another matter of paramount importance, and the dressing of the issikoko, or head-ring, and 
the red tufts on the crown of married women, are subjects which have before been alluded to. I have frequently been 
detained for hours at a time waiting for my sitters to decorate themselves, unable to make them understand, or rather 
ZULU WOMAN RETURNING FROM WORK JN THE FIELDS. 
feel satisfied, that they would make equally good pictures without undergoing such useless and tedious preparations, 
especially as regarded the dressing of their crisp locks: and perhaps, after so much time wasted in their frivolous toilettes, 
they would suddenly rush away, after sitting to me for a few moments, saying, “What shall we be now?” or “What 
will become of us now we are painted?” One man refused my application to paint his daughter, alleging that she was 
betrothed; and fearing it would have some evil influence upon her, asked very gravely what effect it would produce upon 
her marriage. 
