ining the hair, which was
arranged in short curls and locks, stiffened with gum and matted with
grease, so as to form a sort of cap or grotesque aureole round the
skull. The men delighted to load themselves with rings, bracelets,
earrings, and necklaces, while from their arms, necks, and belts hung
long strings of glass beads, which jingled with every movement of the
wearer. They seem to have frequently chosen a woman as their ruler, and
her dress appears to have closely resembled that of the Egyptian
ladies. She appeared before her subjects in a chariot drawn by oxen,
and protected from the sun by an umbrella edged with fringe. The common
people went about nearly naked, having merely a loin-cloth of some woven
stuff or an animal's skin thrown round their hips. Their heads were
either shaven, or adorned with tufts of hair stiffened with gum. The
children of both sexes wore no clothes until the age of puberty; the
women wrapped themselves in a rude garment or in a covering of linen,
and carried their children on the hip or in a basket of esparto grass on
the back, supported by a leather band which passed across the forehead.
One characteristic of all these tribes was their love of singing and
dancing, and their use of the drum and cymbals; they were active and
industrious, and carefully cultivated the rich soil of the plain,
devoting themselves to the raising of cattle, particularly of oxen,
whose horns they were accustomed to train fantastically into the shapes
of lyres, bows, and spirals, with bifurcations at the ends, or with
small human figures as terminations. As in the case of other negro
tribes, they plied the blacksmith's and also the goldsmith's trade,
working up both gold and silver into rings, chains, and quaintly shaped
vases, some specimens of their art being little else than toys, similar
in design to those which delighted the Byzantine Caesars of later date.

[Illustration: 341.jpg GOLD EPERGNE REPRESENTING SCENES FROM ETHIOPIAN
LIFE]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a painting on the tomb of Hui.

A wall-painting remains of a gold epergne, which represents men and
monkeys engaged in gathering the fruit of a group of dom-palms. Two
individuals lead each a tame giraffe by the halter, others kneeling on
the rim raise their hands to implore mercy from an unseen enemy, while
negro prisoners, grovelling on their stomachs, painfully attempt
to raise their head and shoulders from the ground. This, doubtless,