plete costume, and even the old shirts which are begged from the colonists are often smeared with it.
Not long after I had afforded Isaac so much amusement I found a young dandy seated on the dry sand of the river bed, holding a little gilt-framed looking-glass the size of a crown-piece in one hand, whilst with the other he was putting the finishing touches to a general wilghee toilet, being then employed upon his face. A flask of salad oil stood beside him in the sand, and also a small box, like a pretence for a dressing-case, containing the red earth, with which he had so bedaubed himself from head to foot that his eyes alone retained their natural hue. To the extent permitted by his tiny mirror he appeared to be surveying himself as a work of art, which in a certain sense he was, for his hair was so thickly plastered with the red pigment, that every lock stood distinct and separate like the curls of a clay model.
When a native family is "placed in mourning," as newspapers would say, wilghee is inadmissible, and the face must be either chalked or blackened. Khourabene being invited to attend the funeral of a cousin, came into our kitchen to dress for the occasion, and first oiling his hands well, proceeded to rub them on the back of the chimney, and then to rub his face with his hands. By this means he paid the deceased a kinsman's tribute of respect, and at the same time produced in his own appearance a change so startling and complete that it might have misled the keenest observer. In which sooty mask we will leave Khourabene for the present, and pass on to the consideration of other subjects.
