St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-09-15
THE HAIR OF SAvAGES.
How the Asiattcs and South Sea Islanders
Keep 1t Within Bounds.

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The Asiatics have always been fam
Gus for decorating their heads. Th
Mohammedans Of old shaved thei
heads, except q single knot of hair a
the exact top Of the head, which wa
left for a practical purpose, the Mo
hammedan doctrine being that at tn
resurrection of the dead the ange
Gabriel was specially detailed to attene
to the Mohammedans, and he RAISED
them by the top-knot. Accordingly tn,
top-knot was left full and strong in Or
der that the hold might not break, ;
hole being left N the top of the coffin II
order to facilitate the angels work
The Chinese method Of hair dressing i
too well known to need description
while in India the styles are both mum
erous and diversified, many OF the
tribes Of the Punjab being distinguished
from each other by their methods OF
dressing their hair.
According to Lubbock, Darwin and
other authorities, the head dressing of
the South Sea Islanders is ornate in the
last degree, while not infrequently their
styles of dressing their hair are SO in
genlously gfotesque as to create the i'm
preston that the arrangement was
solely for the purpose of creating laugh
ter. Sometimes most of the hair on the
head is clipped away, leaving number
of short, round tufts, US though the
scalp were planted with short paint
brushes. Occasionally the hair is cut
away from the forehead and temples,
leaving it at the top and back OF the
head; sometimes the back of the head
is shaved, leaving the hair on the top
and sides; but generally the entire
growth Of hair is left upon the head,
and as the capillary adornments Of the
New Zealanders are very long and
bushy, the couture of a 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 ar
ranged in long cones, the surface of the
scalp being divided into a great num-
Der of small circles, and the hair grow
ing in each twisted up and so curled as
to form inverted cones, the point being
toward the seal p:
But, not content with these extraordi-
nary appendages, the South Sea Island
ers have practice of dyeing their hair
and in the most extraordinary colors.
The natural color of their hair is jetty
black, but they have a number of pig
ments, the use of which is well known
to them, by which they color their
locks red, green, blue, yellow and
white, and every variety of color may
be seen in the course of a days walk. |
But the New Zealand dandyis frequent
ly not satisfied with having his hair one
color, and so will die it in several, MAX
ing bands or stri pes across his Uranium.
A recent traveller records having seen a
New Zealander with an enormous shock
Of bushy hair: In front the hair was
eft its natural color: Next; from ear
across the top of the head to the other,
came strip of white hair, then band
If red, then a streak of green, then a
blue stripe, and this parti-colored saw
age, who resembled nothing so much as
IN extraordinary habited clown in the
circus, was not only the admiration OF
himself, but of the entire village in
which he lived, so that in New Zealand,
Is well as in more civilized countries,
he adage: Variety is the spice of
ife," is perfectly true.