DRESS AND ORNAMENTS OF TAVETA WOMEN. 83 
for the habit of shaving their heads, loading themselves 
with beads and iron ornaments, and disfiguring their 
ears by stretching them to such unnatural lengths, some 
would be almost pretty. They bind rows of beads 
tightly round the head and hang numerous coils of the 
red and blue variety round their necks, in addition to 
several iron and copper hoops and perhaps a string or 
two of scented grass seeds : besides all this, they load 
themselves with long strings of red and white beads, 
arranged like crossbelts over the breasts, and with 
others encircling the waist, wrists, arms, knees, and 
ankles. The latter are often beautifully worked on 
strips of leather in many varieties of design. Every 
lady has a cotton petticoat, and those who are married 
wear, as a distinctive mark, coils of brass wire as ear¬ 
rings looking like Catherine-wheels, from which, if the 
o o 
ears will stand the strain, are hung bead and chain 
ornaments. The virgins are content with simple beads. 
The more of these beads a woman can display upon 
her person, the better dressed she is in her own opinion 
and in that of her friends, and her wealth is estimated 
by the number she wears. Indeed, cloth and heads 
may be considered the coin of the realm here, whereas 
the Caga and Masai tribes prefer iron and copper wire. 
Pregnant women, in addition to the other ornaments, 
have rattles attached to their ankles, intended to give 
warning of their approach, and thus to obviate the 
chance of being startled by any one suddenly coming- 
round a corner. They also enlist the services of elderly 
ladies as chaperones. The children mostly run about 
