The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-05-03
Strange Customs.

The following is a curious account oi
the habits and customs Of some of the
tribes in the interior of Africa, as we find
it in the new volume of travels by David
and Carries !. vingstone, just issued in
! London. Speaking of the women in
| Moranbala, the narrati.e says:
These damsels looking with consider
able disgust on the men in bags, as the
trowsered whites were called Even the
less fastidious matrous quicted their
children by threatening TO fetch the
! white man to bite them. In their eyes.
Dr. Livingstone, busy with the wet and
dry bulb thermometers was an object of
pity, playing with toys like little boy
but when they beheld the travellers
spreading butter, raw BUTTER on their
bread, their disgust was beyond expires
sion They only use butter after melting
it, to anoint their heads and bodies.
The mos: wonderful of ornam ents, if
such it may be called, is the pelele or
upper lip ring of the women. The mid
die OF the upper lip for the ring is pierced
close to the septum oil the nose, and
small pin inserted to prevent the pune
ture closing up. After it has healed the
pin is taken out and a larger one is press
ed into its place. and so on successiyeiy
for weeks. and months. and years The
process Of increasing the size of the lip
goes on till its capacity becomes so great
that ring of two inches in diameter can
be introduced with ease.
"All the highland women wear the
peiele. and it is common on the upper
and lower shire The poorer classes
make them OF hollow o. OF solid bamboo,
hat the healthier of ivory or tin. The
tin releie is often made in the form OF a
small dish. The ivory one IS not anlike
a napkin ring No woman ever appears
in public without the pelcie, except in
times of mourning for the dead II is
f,igh.f lly ugly to see the upper lip pro
;ecting two inches beyond the tip OF the
nose. When an cl,. wearer of hollow
barn hoo ring smiles, hy the action "f the
muscles Of the checks the ring AMI the
lip outside of it are dragged back and
thrown above the eyebrows. The nose
is seen through the middle Of the ring,
and the exposed teeth show how care
fully they have been Clipped to look like
those of cat or crocodile.
The pelele of an lady, Chikanda Kad
ze, chieftaness, about twenty miles
north of Moran bala, hung down below
her chin, of course, piece of the upper
lip around its bor,ier. The labial letters
Cannot be properly pronounced. but the
under lip has to do its best for them
gainst the upper teeth and gum Tell
them it makes them ugly; they had bet
Ter throw it away they reply, 'Kodi !.
Really! it is the fashion, How this
hiGeous fashion originated is an enigma.
Can thick lips ever have been thought
beautiful, and this mode of artificial en-
largement resorted to in consequence :?
The constant twiddling of the pelele
with the tongue by the younger women
suggested the irreverent idea that it
might have been invented to give safe
employment to that little member. sWhy
do the women wear these things? 2 We
inquired of the old chief, Chinsune
Evidently surprised at such stupid
question. he replied: For beauty, to be
sure. Men have boards and whiskers /:
women have none; and what kind of a
creature would women be without
whiskers and without pelele? She
would have . mouth like a man, and no
beard; ha, ha. har Afterward, on the
Rovuma, we found men wearing the pei
eIe as well As women"