ted 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. "Why do the women wear these things?" we inquired of the old
chief, Chinsunse. Evidently surprised at such a stupid question, he
replied, "For beauty, to be sure! Men have beards and whiskers; women
have none; and what kind of creature would a woman be without whiskers,
and without the pelele? She would have a mouth like a man, and no beard;
ha! ha! ha!" Afterwards on the Rovuma, we found men wearing the pelele,
as well as women. An idea suggested itself on seeing the effects of the
slight but constant pressure exerted on the upper gum and front teeth, of
which our medical brethren will judge the value. In many cases the upper
front teeth, instead of the natural curve outwards, which the row
presents, had been pressed so as to appear as if the line of alveoli in
which they were planted had an inward curve. As this was produced by the
slight pressure of the pelele backwards, persons with too prominent teeth
might by slight, but long-continued pressure, by some appliance only as
elastic as the lip, have the upper gum and teeth depressed, especially in
youth, more easily than is usually imagined. The pressure should be
applied to the upper gum more than to the teeth.

The Manganja are not a sober people: they brew large quantities of beer,
and like it well. Having no hops, or other means of checking
fermentation, they are obliged to drink the whole brew in a few days, or
it becomes unfit for use. Great merry-makings take place on these
occasions, and drinking, drumming, and dancing continue day and night,
till the beer is gone. In crossing the hills we sometimes found whole
villages enjoying this kind of mirth. The veteran traveller of the party
remarked, that he had not seen so much drunkenness during all the sixteen
years he had spent in Africa. As we entered a village one afternoon, not
a man was to be seen; but some women were drinking beer under a tree. In
a few moments the native doctor, one of the innocents, "nobody's enemy
but his own," staggered out of a hut, with his cupping-horn dangling from
his neck, and began to scold us for a breach of etiquette. "Is this the
way to come into a man's village, without sending him word that you are
coming?" Our men soon pacified the fuddled but good-humoured