leaf in his nose, and is still under the same restriction as to food, which is cooked in the same way and by the same persons as before.  On finding the snake, he secures it alive, removes the croton leaf from the hole in his nose, and inserts into it the tail end of the living snake; then, holding the head of the snake in one of his hands, and the tail in the other, he draws the snake slowly through the hole, until its head is close to the hole.  He then lets the head drop from his hand, and with a quick movement of the other hand draws it through the nose, and throws the snake, still living, away. [42] This completes the nose-piercing; but there still rests upon the patient the duty of going to the river, and there catching an eel, which he gives to the people who have been feeding him during his illness.

The nose-piercing is generally done at one of the big feasts; and, as these are rare in any one village, you usually find in the villages many fully-grown people whose noses have not been pierced; though as to this I may say that nose-piercing is more generally indulged in by chiefs and important people and their families than by the village rank and file.  It commonly happens, however, that a good many people have to be done when the occasion arises.  Each person to be operated upon has to provide a domestic pig for the big feast.  I have been unable to discover the origin and meaning of the nose-piercing ceremony. [43]

Ear-piercing is done to both men and women, generally when quite young, say at seven or twelve years of age.  Both the lower and the upper lobes are pierced, sometimes only one or the other, and sometimes both; but the lower lobe is the one more commonly pierced.  They can do it themselves, or can get someone else to do it.  There is no ceremony.  The piercing is done with the thorn of a tree, and the hole is afterwards gradually widened by the insertion of small pieces of wood.  They never make large holes, or enlarge them greatly afterwards, as the holes are only used for the hanging of pendants, and not for the insertion of discs.  After the piercing the patient must, until the wound is healed, abstain from all food except sweet potato; but there is no restriction as to the way in which this food is to be cooked, or the person who is to cook it.  There is as regards ear-piercing no difference between the case of chiefs’ children and those of other people.

Body-staining is usual with both men and women, who do it for themselves, or get others to help them.  There is no ceremony in connection with it.  The colours generally adopted are red, greyish-yellow and black.  The red stain is procured from an earth, which is obtained from the low countries; but they themselves also have an earth which is used, and produces a more bronzy red.  The yellow stain is also got from an earth.  All these coloured earths are worked into a paste with water, or with animal fat, if they can get it.  I think they also get a red