The Dickinson press., 1888-09-08
Hair OF SAVAGES.
HOW IT is KEPT WITHIN BOUNDS
BY THE PRoPRIEToRs.
Cothurcs of tho American Intlians-Ethi-
optans and their Kinky Locks-Tho
Astntirs Head Dressing of the South Sea
Islanders New ZcaIandcrs,

lslandcrs--Ncw Zcalandcrs.
Why should s;lyages care for their hairi
The question is not easily answered, for saw
ages, apparently, care for SO littlo-accor,linc
to our notons-in the way of personal ap.
pearance that regard for their locks would
seem to be the last matter TO which they
would give attention. But, nevertheless,
there is reason to believe that savascs have
much more concern for their locks than we
are apt to believe; and, indeed, no pages of
travellers books are moro interesting than
those which give accounts of the manners
and dress of tho barbarolls races; for, by
means of the hints impaired by travellers
notes. we are able to gather that vanity is us
prevalent among savages us among the civil
ized, and fashion us impcrious in her man
Iates.
Among tho American Indians great ntten,
ton has always been paid to tho hair, and
we'll it deserves it, for although coarse,
harsh and straight, tho hair of the American
Indian is of deep l,rstrous black, and when
properly arranged, is capable of making n
very beautiful coillurc Tho works on Amer
lean antiquities give n great number of
styles of hair dressing i'll vogue among the
Indians. Among tho Shawnces the favoritc
style was to closely clip the sides of the head
Ill front, above and behind the cars, and allow
straight ridge of hair to grow from the
| forehead to the nape of tho neck, adjoining
| this with feathers and sometimes plating
the top into Il long cue behind. The lntfians
| OF the North Atlantic coast had Il habit of
clipping the entire head, with tho exception
of scalp lock just at tho top, though not
ntrequcntly tho savage beau, instead of
clipping, would permanently destroy tile
growth of hair OH all portions of tho head,
except tho apex of tho Uranium, by pulling
out tho hairs by the roots and rubbing ashes
or some other strong ulkali OH the skin to
destroy the growth Tho Indians of tho
Pacific coast frequently clip Off or pull out
the hair on tho top and back of the hc;,d,
leaving lock over each car, while in the
south it was Il practice among tho Indians to
extirpate tho hair on all portions of the head
save the back, and leave that for u scalp
lock. In all cases, wherever tho lock or locks
were left, they were always adorned in the
highest style of Indian art, sometimes with
feathers, occasionally with wnmptn or
t''lsls and not infrequcntly their size was
increased and their length extended by the
use Of horse hair
ETllIoPIANS AND AsIATICS
The Ethiopians have no lar, properly
speaking, but what answers them for hair is
| really different from the hair of tho white
races. Ii Il hair from the head of n Caucasian
he examined through microscope, it is
found to he hollow and composed of sections
or joints somewhat resembling those of a
cane, or in some cases like n ladder with its
roIlnds The hair of an African is entirely
different in this respect being solid and
round, this constituting the difference be.
| wool and h.,i I,,,t
fact that his wool is solid appears only to en-
dear it to the African, who gives it all the
more attention, perhaps because ho has so
little Of it, and divides his scalp into patches.
gathering up the hair from each into cir
clliar knot and tying it with string as care
fully us though it were Il treasure. In the
interior of the Dark Continent tho wool of
the negroes is frequently long, though never
straight, but SO difficult is the task of Olsen
t,nging their locks that not much attempt
at ornatencss is made in tho African head
dresses. Livingstone says that when an
African chief makes his toilet tho most lie
ever attempts in the way of arranging 1,
head dress is to comb his wool up into n
pyramdal shape, stick n few feathers in it,
and hang one or more strings of beads along
the facade, SO to speak, of this unique ctliiice
The Asiatcs have always been famous for
decorating their heads The Mohnmmctlans
OF old shaved their Leads except u single
knot Of ilair ut the exact top Of tho head
which was left for a practical purpose, the
Mo'ra,nnclan doctrine being that nt the re;
direction OF tho dead tho Angel Gabriel was
specially detailed TO attend to the Mohummc
dams. and he raised them by the top knot
Accordingly, the top knot was left full aud
strong. in order that the hold might not
lr,,, l,<,I,, H., T. r.
fin IN order to facilitate tho angels work.
The Chinese method of hair dressing is too
well known to need description, whlo in
India the styles are both numerous and di
versitic'l, nH,my of the tribes of the Punjuub
being distinguished from each other by their
methods of dressing their hair
TIE SOUTH SEA ISLANDERs
According to Lubbock, Darwin and other
authorities, the head dressing Of tho South
Sea Islanders is ornate in tho last degree,
while not inircqucntly their styles of dress
ing their hair are so ngeniously grotcsquo as
to create tho impression that tho arrange
ncnt was solely for the purpose of cxcitn.
laughter. Sometimes most of the hair on
the head is clipped away, leaving number
OF short, round tufts, as though tho scalp
were planted with short paint brushes DC
casionally the hair is cut away from the
forehead and temples, leaving it ut tho top |
aud back OF the head, sometimes the back of |
the head Is shaved, leaving tho hair on the |
top and sides. but generally the entire growth |
of hair Is left upon the head, and as the capi |
larry adornments of tho New Icannders are
very long and bushy, the coiffurc of n chief
generally assumes enormous proportions
One traveller mentions the fact of seeing a |
chief in New Zealand whose head dress was |
over three feet in diameter and arranged in
long cones, the surface OF the scalp being di
vAed into n great number of small circles |
and the hair growing in each twisted up and |
50 curlctl as to form inverted cones, the point |
Icing towards the scalp
But not content with these extraordinary /
npIandagcs, the South Sea Islanders have a .
practice Of dyemg their hair and in the most
extraordinary colors. Tho natural color of
their hair is u jctty black, but they have n
number of pigments. the use Of which Is vel.
known to them, by which they color their
locks red, green, blue, yclow and white and |
every variety of color may oe seen in the
course of n days walk. Eut the New Zealand |
dandy is frequently net satisfied with having |
ms hair of one color, and SO will dye it III |
several, making bands or stripes across his
cranium recent traveller records having
seen New Zeaandsr with an enorlnou,
shock Of bushy halr. In front tho hair was
left its natural color. Next, from one ear
across tho top Of the head to the other, came
stripe of white Lair, then q band of red,
Lnen streak Of green, then a blue stripe, and |
this parti-colorcd savage, who rcscmcled /
n'thlns so much rs an extraordinarily bab
't'.d clown III the circus, was not only the ad
tnlration of hirnself, but Of the entire village
which he lived, so that in New Zealand, d:
'e!l us in more civilized countries, the udagc
:uricty is the spice of life" is perfectly true
II Louis Globe Democrat.
For Ti,niDr I>ynovuroS