HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 71 of gold, an inch in diameter, on their foreheads, or small round pieces of amber of the same size. On their fingers they wear silver rings set with cornelians. They are, in fact, fond of anything that shines or glitters, and has a bright or gaudy colour, and it is no easy matter, at times, to abstain from laughter, on beholding one of these black beauties in full dress. I have, frequently, on the other hand, met with others who dressed themselves with peculiar taste, so that they really presented an agreeable appeai*ance. Women who are not wealthy wear small pearls, or small red berries, or a charm sewn up in red leather on their foreheads. On their arms they cany ivory or horn bracelets ; round their ankles copper rings or a large milk-white glass bead ; round their necks they hang strings of blue glass beads, and in their noses and ears rings of brass. The unmanied or girls walk about naked, and bind only round their loins a fringed leathern belt, from which several hundred smali thin straps depend. This girth is called " rahat," and is frequently decorated with agates. They are, also, very fond of ornament, and adorn their heads and necks with glass beads. The boys run about in a perfect state of nudity up to their twelfth year. The men anoint their bodies, like the women, with oil, butter, and other greasy substances, not so much for the purpose of giving the skin a glossy appearance, as to preserve it from cracking, to which inconvenience it would be very liable,