house, retaining
the croton leaf in his nose. He must next occupy himself in searching
for a black non-poisonous snake about 12 or 18 inches long, which is
commonly found in the grass. I cannot say what snake this is, but
I am advised that it is probably _Tropidonotus mairii_. Its native
name is _fal' ul' obe_, which means "germ of the ground." Until he
finds this snake he must keep the croton leaf in his nose, and is
still under the same restriction as to food, which is cooked in the
same way and by the same persons as before. On finding the snake,
he secures it alive, removes the croton leaf from the hole in his
nose, and inserts into it the tail end of the living snake; then,
holding the head of the snake in one of his hands, and the tail in
the other, he draws the snake slowly through the hole, until its head
is close to the hole. He then lets the head drop from his hand, and
with a quick movement of the other hand draws it through the nose,
and throws the snake, still living, away. [42] This completes the
nose-piercing; but there still rests upon the patient the duty of
going to the river, and there catching an eel, which he gives to the
people who have been feeding him during his illness.

The nose-piercing is generally done at one of the big feasts; and,
as these are rare in any one village, you usually find in the villages
many fully-grown people whose noses have not been pierced; though as
to this I may say that nose-piercing is more generally indulged in by
chiefs and important people and their families than by the village rank
and file. It commonly happens, however, that a good many people have
to be done when the occasion arises. Each person to be operated upon
has to provide a domestic pig for the big feast. I have been unable
to discover the origin and meaning of the nose-piercing ceremony. [43]

Ear-piercing is done to both men and women, generally when quite young,
say at seven or twelve years of age. Both the lower and the upper lobes
are pierced, sometimes only one or the other, and sometimes both;
but the lower lobe is the one more commonly pierced. They can do it
themselves, or can get someone else to do it. There is no ceremony. The
piercing is done with the thorn of a tree, and the hole is afterwards
gradually widened by the insertion of small pieces of wood. They never
make large holes, or enlarge them greatly afterwards, as the holes are
only used for the hanging of pendants, and not for the in