Page:Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile - In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773 volume 4.djvu/476

 44B TRAVELS TO DISCOVER

with blue Surat cloth, fat three perfons cloathcd from the neck to the feet with blue cotton ihirts.

One of thefe, who I found was the favourite, was a- bout fix feet high, and corpulent beyond all proportion. She feemed to me, next to the elephant and rhinoceros, to be the largeft living creature I had met with. Her fea- tures were perfecftly like thofe of a Negro ; a ring of gold pafled through her under lip, and weighed it down, till, like a flap, it covered her chin, and left her teeth bare, which were very fmall and fine. The infide of her lip fhe had made black with antimony. Her ears reached down to her fhoulders, and had the appearance of wings ; flie had in each of them a large ring of gold, fomewhat fmaller than a man's little finger, and about five inches diameter. The weight of thefe had drawn down the hole where her ear was pierced fo much that three fingers might eafily pafs above the ring. She had a gold necklace, like what we ufed to call Efclavage, of feveral rows, one below an- other, to which were hung rows of fequins pierced. She had on her ancles two manacles of gold, larger than any I had ever feen upon the feet of felons, with which I could not conceive it was pofilble for her to walk, but afterwards I foundthcy werehollow. The otherswere drefit'ed pretty much in the fame manner; only there was one that had chains which came from her ears to the outfide of each noftril, where they v/ere fafiened. There was alfo a ring put thro' the grifiile of her nofe, and which hung down to the open- ing of her mouth. I think flic muft have breathed with great difficulty. It had altogether fomething of the ap- pearance of a horfe's bridle. Upon my coming near them, the eldell put her hand to her mouth and kifitd it,

4 faying,