Page:First Footsteps in East Africa, 1894 - Volume 1.djvu/66

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The other is a matron of Abyssinian descent, as her skin, scarcely darker that a gipsy's, her long and bright blue fillet, and her gaudily-fringed dress, denote. She tattoos her face : a livid line extends from her front hair to the tip of her nose; between her eyebrows is an ornament representing a fleur-de-lis, and various beauty-spots adorn the corners of her mouth and the flats of her countenance. She passes her day superintending the slave-girls, and weaving mats, the worsted work of this part of the world. We soon made acquaintance, as far as an exchange of salams. I regret, however, to say that there was some scandal about my charming neighbour; and that more than once she was detected making signals to distant persons with her hands.

At 6 we descend to breakfast, which usually consists of sour grain cakes and roast mutton—at this hour a fine trial of health and cleanly living. A napkin is passed under my chin, as if I were a small child, and a sound scolding is administered when appetite appears deficient. Visitors are always asked to join us: we squat on the uncarpeted floor, round a circular stool, eat