90 DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES. [ c h a p . it .
ornamented with a bunch of cock’s feathers. Every
man carries his weapons, pipe, and stool, the whole
(except the stool) being held between his legs when
standing. These natives of Gondokoro are the B a ri:
the men are well grown, the women are not prepossessing,
but the negro type of thick lips and flat nose
is wanting; their features are good, and the woolly hair
alone denotes the trace of negro blood. They are
tattooed upon the stomach, sides, and back, so closely,
that it has the appearance of a broad belt of fish-
scales, especially when they are rubbed with red ochre,
which is the prevailing fashion. This pigment is made
of a peculiar clay, rich in oxide of iron, which, when
burnt, is reduced to powder, and then formed into
lumps like pieces of soap; both sexes anoint themselves
with this ochre, formed into a paste by the
admixture of grease, giving themselves the appearance
of new red bricks. The only hair upon their persons
is a small tuft upon the crown of the head, in which
they stick one or more feathers. The women are
generally free from hair, their heads being shaved.
They wear a neat little lappet, about six inches long,
of beads, or of small iron rings, worked like a coat of
mail, in lieu of a fig-leaf, and the usual tail of fine
shreds of leather or twine, spun from indigenous cotton,
pendant behind. Both the lappet and tail are fastened