present Fan and other wild tribes. A custom noticed by Barbot,
but apparently obsolete in the days of Bowdich, was to bore the
upper lip, and to insert a small ivory pin, extending from nose
to mouth. The painting and tattooing were fantastic and
elaborate; and there was a hideous habit of splitting either lip,
so as to "thrust the tongue through on ceremonial occasions." A
curious reason is given for this practice. "They are subject to a
certain distemper very common there, which on a sudden seizes
them, and casts them into fits of so long a continuance, that
they would inevitably be suffocated, if by means of the split at
their upper lip they did not pour into their mouths some of the
juice of a certain medicinal herb, which has the virtue of easing
and curing the diseased person in a very short time."

All these things, fits included, are now obsolete. The men shave
a line in the hair like a fillet round the skull, and what is
left is coiffe au coup de vent. The head-dress is a cap, a straw
hat, a billy cock, or a tall silk "chimney pot," the latter
denoting a chief; he also sports in full dress a broad coat,
ending in a loin cloth of satin stripe or some finer stuff, about
six feet long by four and a half broad; it is secured by a
kerchief or an elastic waist belt; during work it is tucked up,
but on ceremonial occasions it must trail upon the ground. The
lieges wear European shirts, stuffed into a waist-cloth of
cheaper material, calico or domestics; This Tanga, or kilt, is,
in fact, an article of general wear, and it would be an airy,
comfortable, and wholesome travelling costume if the material
were flannel. The ornaments are necklaces of Venetian beads, the
white pound, and the black and yellow seed: Canutille or bugles
of various patterns are preferred, and all are loaded with