ABYSSINIA.
ABYSSINIA, THE LAND OF MYSTERY -- ORIGIN OF THE NAME -- THE KINGDOM
OF PRESTER JOHN -- THE THREE ABYSSINIAN DISTRICTS OR KINGDOMS --
GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE ABYSSINIANS -- DRESS OF THE MEN -- THE
QUARRY AND THE TROUSERS -- GOING TO BED -- THE DINO AND ITS FASHIONS
-- MEN’S ORNAMENTS -- HOW THE JEWELLER IS PAID -- WEAPONS OF THE
ABYSSINIANS -- THE SWORD OR SHOTEL, AND ITS SINGULAR FORM AND USES
-- THE SPEAR AND MODE OF KEEPING IT IN ORDER -- THE SHIELD AND ITS
ORNAMENTS -- APPEARANCE OF A MOUNTED CHIEF -- SWORDSMANSHIP -- THE
ABYSSINIAN AS A SOLDIER -- DRESS AND APPEARANCE OF THE WOMEN --
THEIR ORNAMENTS -- TATTOOING -- MODES OF DRESSING THE HAIR -- THE
ABYSSINIAN PILLOW.
Abyssinia is one of the most wonderful nations on the face of the
earth. It was long a land of mystery, in which the unicorn and the lion
held their deadly combats, in which dragons flapped their scaly wings
through the air, in which the mountains were of gold and the river-beds
paved with diamonds, and, greatest marvel of all, in which Prester
John, the priest and king, held his court, a Christian Solomon of the
Middle Ages.
In this last tale there was this amount of truth, that a Christian
Church existed in Abyssinia--a Church of extreme antiquity, which
has remained to the present day, having accommodated itself in a
most remarkable manner to the race-characteristics of the people.
Setting aside the interest which has been excited in Abyssinia by the
successful march of a British force to the military capital, Abyssinia
deserves description in this volume. At first sight it would appear
that a Christian country would find no place in a work which has
nothing to do with civilization; but, as we proceed with the account,
we shall find that Christianity in Abyssinia has done scarcely anything
to civilize the nation, as we understand the word, and, instead of
extirpating the savage customs of the people, has in a strange manner
existed alongside of them, if such a term may be used.
It is my purpose in the following pages to give a succinct description
of the uncivilized manners and customs of the Abyssinians, together
with a brief account of that peculiar system of Christianity which
could survive for nearly fifteen hundred years, and yet leave the
people in a scarcely better moral state than if they had never heard
the name of Christ.
* * * * *
Like many other large communities, the great Abyssinian nation is
composed of several elements, differing as much from each other as the
Scotch, the Irish, the Welsh, and the other mixed races who together
form the English nation. In Abyssinia, however, these different
elements have not fused themselves so much together as is the case with
this kingdom, and each principality is independent, having its own
ruler and its own laws.
That such a state of things is injurious to the interests of the
kingdom is evident to all students of history, and we find that every
great ruler has attempted to unite them under one head. The peculiar
character of the Africans is, however, strong in these people; and as
soon as the strong hand that held them together is removed, they fly
asunder, and resume their individuality. To the Abyssinian kingdom may
be well applied the familiar epigram of a “concurrence of antagonistic
atoms.”
Their native name, “Hàbash,” of which our word Abyssinia is a
corruption, signifies “mixture,” and is exceedingly appropriate to
them. Among the many mixtures which compose the Abyssinian nation,
the natives reckon a considerable Jewish element. They say that the
Sheba of Scripture was Abyssinia, and that their queen went to visit
Solomon for the express purpose of introducing the blood of so eminent
a sovereign into the royal succession of Abyssinia. She waited till she
had borne a son, and through that son the successive kings of Abyssinia
believe themselves to be lineal descendants of Solomon. Whether this
story be true or not, it is thoroughly in consonance with the very lax
morality of Abyssinian females. When the queen returned to her own
country, she was followed by a number of Jews, and they say that at
the time of the destruction of the Temple, and the captivity, a great
multitude of fugitives followed their compatriots, and took refuge in
Abyssinia.
Numbers of Greeks and Portuguese have at different times taken up their
residence in Abyssinia, and, like the immigrant Jews, been absorbed
into the country, so that the native name of Hàbash is seen to be well
deserved.
Three of the districts or sub-kingdoms have the best claim to the title
of Abyssinia, and are inhabited by Christians of that peculiar kind to
which allusion has just been made. The first is the Tigré (pronounced
Teegray) country, which takes its name as a province from a small
district to which this name belongs. It extends to the Red Sea on the
east, and to the Taccazy River on the west, and has a rather uncertain
range between lat. 15° and 12° N. It is divided from Nubia by a number
of independent tribes, while some of the Gallas and other tribes are on
its northern boundary.
Westward of the Taccazy lies the second kingdom or province, called
Amhara, in the middle of which is situated the city of Gondar; and
the third is Shooa, which lies southward of Tigré and Amhara, and,
strangely enough, is separated from them by Gallas and other tribes.
Of these three districts, Tigré seems to afford the best characteristic
of the Abyssinians, and therefore the chief part of the account will be
devoted to the Tigréans. Among these people Mr. Mansfield Parkyns lived
for a considerable time, and to him we are indebted for the greater
part of our information concerning this remarkable nation.
As a rule, the Abyssinians are of moderate stature, rather below than
above the English average. Mr. Parkyns saw one or two men who attained
the height of six feet two inches, but remarks that such examples were
very rare.
As is often the case with Africans, the complexion is exceedingly
variable, sometimes being of a very pale coppery brown, and sometimes
almost as dark as the negro. This variation, which is often the
effect of locality, is attributed by Mr. Parkyns to the mixture
of races. As, moreover, marriages are of the loosest description
in Abyssinia, Christian though it be, a man may be often seen with
a number of children by different wives, all unlike each other in
point of complexion; a brother and sister, for example, being totally
dissimilar, one short and black as a negro, and the other tall and fair
as an European.
The negro element seems to expend itself chiefly in color, the
peculiarity of the negro form having been nearly obliterated by
continual mixture with other races. Now and then the negro conformation
of leg shows itself, but even this evidence is rather uncommon.
The women of the higher class are remarkable for their beauty, not
only of feature but of form, and possess singularly small and pretty
hands and feet, all of which beauties their style of dress exhibits
freely. Their features are almost of the European type, and the eyes
are exceedingly large and beautiful--so large, indeed, that an exact
drawing would have the appearance of exaggeration to persons who are
unaccustomed to them. It is said, indeed, that the only women who can
be compared with the Abyssinians are the French half-caste of the
Mauritius. The engraving No. 2 on the next page will give a good idea
of the features and general appearance of the Abyssinians.
Beginning at the top, we have first a profile view of a woman’s head,
to show the elaborate way in which the hair is plaited and arranged.
Next comes a front view of a head, showing the appearance of the hair
as it is teased and combed out before plaiting. The third figure gives
a view of the head and bust of a lady of rank. This is drawn to show
another mode of arranging the hair, as well as the elaborate tattoo
with which the women love to decorate every inch of the body and limbs
from the neck to the tips of the fingers and toes.
Below are the portraits of two men. One, a priest, has covered his
shaven head with a white turban, the mark of the priesthood among
the Abyssinians, among whom the laity wear no head covering save
their highly-decorated and well-greased locks. The second portrait
is the profile view of a man, and gives a good idea of the cast of
countenance. The reader may scarcely believe that the Abyssinians have
been cited by a certain school of philanthropists as examples of the
intellectual capability of the _negro_.
Next to the personal appearance of the Abyssinians comes their dress.
Varying slightly in different parts of the country, and changing in
some of its details according to the fashion of the day, the dress
of the Abyssinians is essentially the same throughout the kingdom.
The principal articles of dress are trousers, and a large mantle or
“quarry.”
[Illustration: (1.) DINNER PARTY. (See page 656.)]
[Illustration: (2.) ABYSSINIAN HEADS. (See page 642.)]
The trousers are of soft cotton, and of two kinds, the one descending
some three inches below the knee, and the other terminating the same
distance above it. The trousers are very tight, and an Abyssinian dandy
will wear them of so very close a fit that to get them on is nearly an
hour’s work.
Round the waist is rolled the sash or belt, about one yard in width.
This is also of cotton, and varies in length according to the fineness
of the material. A common belt will be about fifteen yards in length,
but a very fine one, which only contains the same amount of material,
will be from fifty to sixty yards long. From thirty to forty yards is
the ordinary length for an Abyssinian gentleman’s belt. It is put on
by holding the end with one hand to the side, and getting a friend to
spread it with his hands, while the wearer turns round and round, and
so winds himself up in the belt, just as our officers did when the long
silk sashes were worn round the waist.
These belts are not only useful in preserving health, but act as
defensive armor in a country where all the men are armed, and where
they are apt to quarrel terribly as soon as they are excited by drink.
Even in war time, the belt often protects the wearer from a blow which
he has only partially guarded with his shield.
Like the trousers and belt, the mantle or “quarry” is made of cotton,
and is very fine and soft. It is made in a rather curious manner. The
ordinary quarry consists of three pieces of cotton cloth, each fifteen
feet long by three wide, and having at each end a red stripe, some five
or six inches in width. These are put together after a rather curious
and complicated manner. “One is first taken and doubled carefully, so
that the red stripes of each end come exactly together. A second piece
is then taken, and also folded, but inside out, and one half of it
laid under and the other half over the first piece, so that the four
red borders now come together. One edge of this quadruple cloth is
then sewed from top to bottom, and the last-mentioned piece is turned
back, so that the two together form one double cloth of two breadths.
The third piece is now added in a similar manner, the whole forming
a ‘quarry’ which, lest any reader should have got confused with the
above description, is a white double cloth, with a red border near the
bottom only.” A completed quarry is seven feet six inches long, by nine
feet wide. The quarries are seldom washed more than once a year, and,
in consequence of the abundant grease used in the Abyssinian toilet,
they become horribly dirty. The natives, however, rather admire this
appearance. An Abyssinian dandy despises a clean quarry, and would no
more wash his mantle than a fashionable lady would bleach a piece of
old lace.
There are different qualities of quarry, the best being made of
materials so fine that six pieces are required, and it is folded four
times double. The colored stripe at the edge is of red, yellow, and
blue silk, neatly worked together. It is worn in various modes, the
most usual resembling that in which a Highlander wears his plaid, so as
to leave the right arm at liberty.
The quarry forms the sleeping costume of the Abyssinians, who take
off their trousers, and roll themselves up so completely in their
mantles that they cover up their entire bodies, limbs, and heads. When
they arrange themselves for the night, they contrive to remove their
trousers, and even their belts, without exposing themselves in the
least: and when we remember the extreme tightness of the former article
of dress, and the inordinate length of the latter, it is a matter of
some surprise that the feat should be accomplished so cleverly.
Married persons pack themselves up in a similar manner, but in pairs,
their mantles forming a covering for the two. It is very curious to see
how they manage to perform this seemingly impossible task. They seat
themselves side by side, the man on the woman’s right hand, and place
the short end of the quarry under them. The long end is then thrown
over their heads, and under its shelter the garments are removed. The
quarry is rolled tightly round the couple, and they are ready for
repose.
So large a mantle is, of course, inconvenient on a windy day, and in
battle would be a fatal encumbrance. On the former occasion it is
confined to the body by a short, cape-like garment called the “dino” or
“lemd,” and in war the quarry is laid aside, and the dino substituted
for it. The dino is often a very elaborate garment, made of cloth,
velvet, or, more frequently, the skin of some animal, cut in a peculiar
manner so as to leave eight strips pendent from the lower edge by way
of a fringe.
The skins of the lion and black leopard are most esteemed, and are
only worn on gala days by chiefs and very great warriors. They are
lined with scarlet cloth, and are fitted with a number of amulets which
appear in front of the breast. A dino made of the black-maned lion skin
will often be valued at eight or ten pounds, while a common one will
scarcely cost one-tenth of that amount. A very favorite skin is that
of the unborn calf, which takes a soft lustre like that of velvet, and
accordingly can only be worn by dandies who are rich enough to purchase
it, or kill a cow for the sake of this skin. An ordinary calf-skin
is contemned, and would only be worn by a man of the lowest class. A
peculiar kind of sheep is kept by the Abyssinians for the sake of its
wool, which is sometimes more than two feet in length.
The sheep lead a very artificial life, are kept day and night on
couches, are fed with meat and milk, and their fleeces washed and
combed regularly as if they were ladies’ lap-dogs. The result of this
treatment is, that they have beautiful fleeces, which are worth from
twenty to thirty shillings each, but their flesh is utterly useless for
consumption, being very small in quantity, and offensive in quality.
The fleeces are generally dyed black, that being a fashionable color in
Abyssinia.
The skin of the hyæna or the dog is never used for clothing, and the
natives have a superstitious fear of the red jackal, thinking that if
they should be wounded while wearing a dino of jackal skin, one of the
hairs might enter the wound, and so prove fatal to the sufferer. The
leopard skin is never worn by ordinary Abyssinians, being exclusively
used by the Gallas and Shooas, and by a certain set of dervishes called
the Zacchâri.
Contrary to the habit of most African nations, the men wear but few
ornaments, those which they employ being almost always signs of valor.
Amulets are found on almost every man, and many of them wear whole
strings of these sacred articles, crossed over the shoulders and
falling as low as the knees. Most Abyssinians carry a pair of tweezers
for extracting thorns from the feet and legs, and the wealthier among
them place their tweezers in a highly ornamented silver case, which is
hung from the handle of the sword.
Whenever an Abyssinian is seen wearing a silver chain, he is known to
have killed an elephant, while those who have distinguished themselves
in battle are known by a sort of silver bracelet, which extends from
the wrist nearly as far as the elbow. It opens longitudinally by
hinges, and is fastened with a clasp. This ornament is called the
“bitoa,” and is often very elegantly engraved, and adorned with gilded
patterns. The silversmiths who make these and similar articles are
rather oddly treated. They are considered as slaves, are not allowed to
leave the country, and yet are treated with considerable kindness, save
and except the payment for their labor.
Consequently, the silversmith, finding that he has to wait a very long
time for his money, and probably will not get it at all, is forced to
pay himself by embezzling a quantity of the gold and silver which are
given him for the manufacture of the bracelet, and substituting an
equal amount of less precious metal. Mr. Parkyns mentions that he has
known a man to receive silver equal to thirty sequins, and to use in
the work rather less than eight. Many of these bracelets are ornamented
with little bell-like pieces of silver round the edge, which tinkle
and clash as the wearer moves. Similar bells are attached to a sort of
silver coronet worn by very great men, and, together with the silver
chains to which they are attached, hang over the ears and neck of the
wearer.
As to the weapons of the Abyssinians, they consist chiefly of the
sword, spear, and shield. In later days fire-arms have been introduced,
but, as this work treats only of the uncivilized part of mankind, these
weapons will not be reckoned in the Abyssinian armory.
The sword, or “Shotel,” is a very oddly-shaped weapon. The blade is
nearly straight for some two feet, and then turns suddenly like a
sickle, but with a more angular bend. The edge is on the inside, and
this peculiar form is intended for striking downward over the enemy’s
shield. In order to give weight to the blow, the blade is much wider
and heavier toward the point than at the hilt. As if this form of blade
did not make the sword feeble enough, the hilt is so constructed that
it prevents all play of the wrist. The handle is made of a pyramidal
piece of rhinoceros horn, five inches wide at one end, and three at the
other. It is made into the proper shape for a handle by cutting out
semicircular pieces along the sides, leaving the four sharp corners in
their previous form. When the sword is grasped, one of the four angles
must come under the wrist, so that if the weapon were allowed to play
freely, as in ordinary swordsmanship, the point would be driven into
the wrist.
As with the natives of Southern Africa, the Abyssinians prefer soft
iron to tempered steel, the former admitting of being straightened when
bent, but the latter being apt to snap. The sword is always hung on the
right side, in order to be out of the way of the shield, especially
when, as in travelling, it is swung backward and forward with the play
of the left arm.
The sheath of the sword is made of leather or red morocco, and is
ornamented by the great men with a number of silver plates. At the end
of the sheath is a metal ball, called “lomita.” This curious ornament
is mostly of silver, and is almost as large as a billiard ball. The
sword-belt is of the same material as the scabbard.
The spear is from six to seven feet in length, and the head is squared
like that of a pike. The four sides are mostly grooved, so that the
head of the weapon looks something like a quadrangular bayonet. This
spear is used both as a lance and as a javelin, a good soldier being
able to strike a man at thirty or forty yards’ distance. The cavalry
always carry two spears, one of which is thrown, and the other retained
to be used as a lance. They have rather a curious mode of using the
lance, aiming it at the adversary as if they meant to throw it, but
only letting the shaft slip through the hand, and catching it by the
butt.
The shafts of the spears are very neatly made and much pains are
bestowed upon them. They are made of very young trees, which are
cleared of the bark by fire, and are then straightened and dried. This
operation requires a very skilful manipulator, as, if the wood be too
much dried, it is brittle and snaps; if irregularly heated, it never
will remain straight; and if not dried sufficiently, it warps with
every change of weather. When properly straightened, the shafts are
greased and hung over the fire for several months, until they assume
the proper reddish-yellow hue.
When not in use, each lance is kept in a sheath, to the top of which is
fastened a loop by which it can be hung to the end of the cow’s horn
which does duty for a peg in Abyssinian houses, and which is just long
enough to allow the lance to hang straight without touching the wall.
The Abyssinian shield is made of buffalo hide, and is strong enough to
resist any sword cut, and to throw off a spear if received obliquely
upon it. If, however, a good spear should strike the shield fairly,
it will pierce it. In order to preserve the needful obliquity, the
shield is made like the segment of a sphere, and has a projecting
boss in the centre. The shield is almost always ornamented, the most
valued decorations being the mane, tail, and paw of a lion, arranged in
various ways according to the taste of the owner. To some shields is
attached the skin of the Guereza monkey, which, with its bold contrast
of long jetty-black and snowy-white hair, has really a striking and
artistic effect. This, however, is always discarded when the native
kills a lion.
Chiefs always have their shields nearly covered with silver plates and
bosses, a fashion which is imitated in brass by the poorer soldiers.
Still, if a common soldier had a good shield, he would not hide its
beauties with brass plates. A chief is distinguished not only by his
silver-mounted shield, but by his silver-plated sword-scabbard. On
his head he wears a silver frontlet, called “akodamir,” having silver
chains hanging from it, and a white feather stuck in the hair behind
the frontlet. If a man of notable courage, he also wears the lion-skin
dino.
Round the edge of the shield are pierced a number of holes, through
which is passed the thong that suspends it to the wall when not in
use. Each day, as it hangs on the wall, the owner takes it down and
shifts the thong from one hole to another, so that the shield may not
be warped, and lose its prized roundness. The shield must swing quite
clear of the wall.
To a good swordsman the shield would be an encumbrance, and not a
means of safety. On account of the necessity of holding out the shield
with the left arm, the sword becomes of little value as an offensive
weapon, the owner not daring to strike lest he should expose himself
to a counter blow. Whereas he who, like Fitz-James, finds his “blade
both sword and shield,” makes very light of an Abyssinian warrior’s
prowess. Mr. Parkyns says on this subject, that any ordinary swordsman,
without a shield, can easily beat the best Abyssinian armed with sword
and shield also. The best mode of fighting the Abyssinian warrior is
to make a feint at his head. Up goes his heavy shield, which certainly
guards his head, but prevents the owner from seeing that his adversary
is making a sweeping cut at his legs. Should the cut 5 or 6 fail,
make another feint at the head, and follow it up with a real blow.
Anticipating a feint, the Abyssinian lowers his shield to protect his
legs, and, as he does so, receives the edge of the sword full on his
unprotected crown.
Although he is well armed, looks very fierce, and is of a quarrelsome
disposition, the Abyssinian soldier is not remarkable for courage, and
prefers boasting to fighting. He never seems to enter the battle with
the idea of merely killing or routing the enemy, but is always looking
out for trophies for himself. As with many nations, and as was the case
with the Israelites in the earlier times, the Abyssinian mutilates a
fallen enemy, and carries off a portion of his body as a trophy, which
he can exhibit before his chief, and on which he can found a reputation
for valor for the rest of his life.
So much do the Abyssinians prize this savage trophy that, just as
American Indians have feigned death and submitted to the loss of their
scalps without giving the least sign of life, men wounded in battle
have suffered an even more cruel mutilation, and survived the injury.
An Abyssinian has even been known to kill a comrade in order to secure
this valued trophy, when he has been unable, either from mischance or
want of courage, to kill an enemy.
* * * * *
We come now to the women and their dress.
Young girls are costumed in the simplest possible style, namely, a
piece of cotton stuff wrapped round the waist, and descending half way
to the knee. Should the girl be rich enough to afford a large wrapper,
she brings one end of it upward and throws it over the left shoulder.
In Tigré the girls prefer a black goatskin, ornamented with cowries.
A married woman wears a sort of loose shirt, and a mantle, or quarry,
similar to that which is worn by the men, but of finer materials.
Should she be able to own a mule, she wears trousers, which are very
full at the waist, and decrease gradually to the ankle, where they fit
like the skin.
As to their ornaments, they are so numerous as to defy description.
That which costs the least, and is yet the most valued, is the tattoo,
which is employed with a profusion worthy of the New Zealander. “The
Tigréan ladies,” so writes Mr. Parkyns, “tattoo themselves; though,
as this mode of adorning the person is not common excepting among the
inhabitants of the capital and persons who have passed some time there,
I should judge it to be a fashion imported from the Amhara.
“The men seldom tattoo more than one ornament on the upper part of
the arm, near the shoulder, while the women cover nearly the whole of
their bodies with stars, lines, and crosses, often rather tastefully
arranged. I may well say nearly the whole of their persons, for they
mark the neck, shoulders, breasts, and arms, down to the fingers, which
are enriched with lines, to imitate rings, nearly to the nails. The
feet, ankles, and calves of the legs are similarly adorned, and even
the gums are by some pricked entirely blue, while others have them
striped alternately blue and the natural pink.
“To see some of their designs, one would give them credit for some
skill in the handling their pencil; but, in fact, their system of
drawing the pattern is purely mechanical. I had one arm adorned; a
rather blind old woman was the artist; her implements consisted of
a small pot of some sort of blacking, made, she told me, of charred
herbs, a large homemade iron pin, about one-fourth of an inch at the
end of which was ground fine, a bit or two of hollow cane, and a piece
of straw. The two last-named items were her substitutes for pencils.
“Her circles were made by dipping the end of a piece of cane of the
required size into the blacking, and making its impression on the skin;
while an end of the straw, bent to the proper length, and likewise
blackened, marked all the lines, squares, diamonds, &c., which were to
be of equal length. Her design being thus completed, she worked away
on it with her pin, which she dug in as far as the thin part would
enter, keeping the supply of blacking sufficient, and going over the
same ground repeatedly to insure regularity and unity in the lines.
With some persons the first effect of this tattooing is to produce
a considerable amount of fever, from the irritation caused by the
punctures, especially so with the ladies, from the extent of surface
thus rendered sore. To allay this irritation, they are generally
obliged to remain for a few days in a case of vegetable matter, which
is plastered all over them in the form of a sort of green poultice.
A scab forms over the tattooing, which should not be picked off, but
allowed to fall off of itself. When this disappears, the operation
is complete, and the marks are indelible; nay, more, the Abyssinians
declare that they may be traced on the person’s bones even after death
has bared them of their fleshy covering.”
The women also wear a vast number of silver ornaments, such as several
chains round the neck, three pairs of silver or gilt bracelets, a
number of little silver ornaments hung like bells to the ankles, above
which are a series of bangles of the same metal. A wealthy woman has
also a large flat silver case, containing talismans, and ornamented
with bells of the same metal, suspended by four silver chains; while
her hair is decorated with a large silver pin, elaborately made, and
furnished with a number of pendent ornaments.
The illustration No. 1, 617th page, exhibits the costume of an
Abyssinian lady, and the difference in dress between herself and her
servants. The latter--who, of course, are her slaves, no other idea
of servitude entering the Abyssinian mind--are washing clothes in a
brook, in preparation for the Feast of St. John, the only day in the
year when the Abyssinians trouble them- to wash either their clothes or
themselves. Other slaves are carrying water-jars on their backs--not
on their heads; and in the foreground stands their mistress giving her
orders. The reader will note the graceful way in which the mantle is
put on, and the string of leathern amulet cases which hangs by her side.
As to the hair itself, it is dressed in a peculiar manner. It is
gathered into a multitude of plaits, beginning at the very top of
the head, and falling as low as the neck. Both sexes have the hair
plaited in this manner, but the men wear their plaits in various ways.
According to strict Abyssinian etiquette, which has greatly faded
in later years, a youth who has not distinguished himself ought to
wear his hair unplaited. As soon as he has killed a man in battle, he
shaves his head, with the exception of a single plait, and for every
additional victim a fresh plait is added. When he kills the fifth, he
is allowed to wear the whole of his hair in tresses.
This mode of dressing the hair occupies a vast amount of time, but time
is of no value to an Abyssinian, who expends several hours upon his
head once every fortnight or so. The plaits are held in their places
by a sort of fixture made of boiled cotton-seeds, and are plentifully
saturated with butter. Vast quantities of this latter article are
consumed in Abyssinian toilets, and it is considered a mark of fashion
to place a large pat of butter on the top of the head before going out
in the morning, and to allow it to be melted by the heat of the sun and
run over the hair. Of course it drips from the ends of the long tresses
on the neck and clothes of the wearer, but such stains are considered
as marks of wealth. Sometimes it runs over the face, and is apt to
get into the eyes, so that in hot weather the corner of the quarry is
largely used in wiping away the trickling butter.
In order to preserve the arrangement of the hair during the night, they
use instead of a pillow a sort of short crutch, looking very like a
common scraper with a rounded top.