Like the dancers, they are overloaded with jewellery; when
they cannot afford gold and silver, they content themselves with
some other metals. They wear also rings of horn, bone, or glass
beads, on the fingers, arms, and feet. On the feet they carry
bells, so that they are heard at a distance of sixty paces; the toes
are covered with broad heavy rings, and they have rings hanging from
their noses down to the chin, which they are obliged to tie up at
meal time. I pitied the poor creatures, who suffered not a little
from their finery! The eyebrows and eyelids are dyed black while
the children are very young, and they frequently paint themselves
with dark-blue streaks of a finger's breadth over the eyebrows, and
with spots on the forehead. The adult women tattoo their breasts,
foreheads, noses, or temples with red, white, or yellow colours,
according as they are particularly attached to one or the other
deity. Many wear amulets or miniatures hung round their necks, so
that I at first thought they were Catholics, and felt gratified at
the brilliant successes of the missionaries.
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