Though a Hottentot belle's value in the marriage market is determined
chiefly by the degree of her corpulence, girls of the higher families
are not, it seems, devoid of other means of attracting the attention
of men. At least I infer so from the following passage in Dalton's
book (_T.S.A._, 104) relating to a certain chief:
"He had a charming daughter, the greatest belle among
the blacks that I had ever seen, and the most
thorough-paced coquette. Her main piece of finery, and
one that she flirted about in a most captivating
manner, was a shell of the size of a penny-piece. She
had fastened it to the end of a lock of front hair,
which was of such length as to permit the shell to
dangle to the precise level of her eyes. She had
learned to move her head with so great precision as to
throw the shell exactly over whichever eye she pleased,
and the lady's winning grace consisted in this feat of
bo-peep, first eclipsing an eye and languishing out of
the other, and then with an elegant toss of the head
reversing the proceedings."