Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/574

 neighbours the same word means "sorghum" and "to eat," which in the Niam-Niam and Fan dialects has the signification of "flesh" and "food."

The Zandehs are round-headed, with straight nose, wide nostrils, full cheeks and lips, round and almost feminine features, an effect which is heightened by their peculiar style of head-dress. Their kinky hair is remarkable for its great length, some wearing tresses which reach down to the waist, while many are furnished with a dense beard much longer than that of any other Negro or negroid peoples. The female head-dress is much more simple than that of the men, who spend whole

days in curling their ringlets, frizzling their tufts, or polishing their fillets. The majority carefully divide the hair down the middle from nape to forehead, while others form above the brow a triangular top-knot between two volutes, whence bang the curls enframing the face. Some even attach their locks in the form of a nimbus to a circular frame supported above the head.

But by its lack of ornamentation the body presents a striking contrast to these elaborate head-dresses. Despising the glass trinkets, which have such a fascination for most other Negro peoples, the Niam-Niams content themselves with a few