skins together with sinew, the skins as a rule being of rock rabbit, or small deer, and occasionally of silver jackal. The skins are first dried, then rubbed over with powdered sandstone till thoroughly clean and more pliable, then rubbed by hand, always keeping the hands well greased, the greatest care being taken not to spoil the fur or rub holes. This rubbing is continued until the whole skin is thoroughly pliable and as soft as silk, by which time it is ready to be sewn.

The original ornaments consisted of brass rings of various sizes, beaten out to considerable width, and worn by the women round their necks; bangles, roughly twisted, of brass, on the arms from the wrist almost up to the elbow, and larger ones round the ankle and just below the knee; and bangles made of soft iron about an inch and a half broad and roughly carved by means of pieces of sharpened iron; also necklaces and bangles of the heads of a grass rather resembling Kaffir corn in miniature. These they used to plait very artistically, drying some in the huts in order to preserve the green tint, and others outside in the sun so as bleach them. Ornaments for dances consisted of, in addition to those already mentioned, skins specially "scratched" by their needles into artistic scrolls, circles, and crosses; anklets made of skin, into small bags partially filled with small smooth pebbles, and wetted and allowed to harden. These make a peculiar rustling rattle as the dancer moves. The men also wear ox tails suspended from both elbows, both shoulders, and both knees, and a head-dress made either of quantities of feathers, and not unlike a busby, or one of the hair off many ox tails. They also carry a shield made of hard stiff hide, and a long stick, straight and beautifully polished, with a round knob at the top.

Men and women alike smear their bodies, faces, and hands with a mixture of red clay and fat, but this is a general practice, and not only for fête days, even the tiny babies being polished in this way.

For a girl the correct dancing costume consisted of the fringe round the hips, the anklets of skin and pebbles, and a head-dress made of the crest of the golden-crested crane and other crested birds. The married women simply don their best skins and hold a more or less fantastic stick in their hands.

Since European traders have settled in the country the Basuto have taught themselves to make wire and bead necklaces and bangles of really remarkable attractiveness, their bead work being most elaborate. To make a bead necklace they will buy a quantity of different coloured beads, which they thread on fine sinews, not in single rows, but in broad patterns, sometimes two and three inches wide. Sometimes the colours are worked alternately, sometimes in squares, and sometimes diagonally. These are fastened by the sinew in the form of a loop on one side, and a bunch of beads or a button on the other. The bangles are made of grass plaited into a circular strand, on to which they string the beads until the grass foundation is completely hidden. They also embroider their skins with many coloured beads, and make a regular waistband of beads. They make small brass buttons out of the soft native brass with which they edge their "dresses."

The wire bangles are made of copper wire, brass wire, and aluminium wire of various thickness (generally very fine). These wires are twisted together, or plaited in the same way in which they plait their grass. Some of them are remarkably pretty.

The brass neck ornaments are made out of the native metal, which is dug out and melted, and then poured into a hollow previously made in a large flat stone, and this forms it into a ring large enough to encircle a woman's neck. Before the metal is cold it is polished with round smooth stones, while still soft it is cut through at one end, and gently forced open until the woman is able to insert her neck. It is then firmly pressed together and held there until cold and hard. These ornaments are called "lepetu," and are extremely difficult to remove. I once asked a woman if her "lepetu" ever hurt her, she seemed much amused and surprised at my question, and laughingly replied, "Certainly not." Their manner of removing them is somewhat barbarous. The woman kneels down, two reims or straps are put through each side, and a steady pull begins, a man holding each reim. As soon as the opening is large enough, the woman squeezes her neck out, and rises free from her bonds.

CHAPTER III. MANNER OF CULTIVATING THE SOIL—GRAIN—HARVEST-FOOD—MANNER OF EATING—RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY—IMPORTS—STATUS OF WOMEN—CHILDREN—RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS—HEATHEN SCHOOLS—AMUSEMENTS.

The way in which the ground was cultivated prior to the introduction of spades and hoes, was not calculated to produce heavy crops, yet so rich is the soil that the grain sown came up splendidly, and provided neither locusts nor drought visited the land, heavy crops were yielded. The implements used were small iron hoes, which the Basuto made out of the iron found in the country. After melting the iron, they hit it into flat pieces about twice the size of a man's hand, and very much that shape. The part corresponding to the human arm was forced, when hot, into the end of a long thick stick; the other end was sharpened on the hard flint stones brought for that purpose from the Malutis.

With these hoes the Basuto "chopped up" the ground, the seed having been scattered first of all on the undisturbed surface.

When weeding-time came, the Basuto took short thick sticks, which they sharpened with their "knives." The weeding is always done by the women. In drought the women used to carry water in their earthenware pots to water the "lands," even the small children helping in this work.

A "knife" was merely a flat strip of native iron about as broad as two fingers and sharpened round the edges.

The seeds used by the Basuto were millet, or "Kaffir corn," maize, or "mealies," and a species of sweet reed known as "Intsué," also pumpkins, and in times of famine they lived upon the seed of the long rank grass, which they call "Moseka."

When the crops were ripe the whole village went out to gather them. The pumpkins were stored in empty huts, the ripe heads of the Kaffir corn were cut off one by one, thrown into baskets and carried to a spot outside the cornfield which had already been prepared as a thrashing-floor, by removing all vegetation and smearing it over in the same manner as the floor of a hut. When the thrashing-floor was well covered with grain, the cattle were driven into it, and round and round, until the corn was all thrashed out. The cattle were then driven off, and the women separated the stalks or heads from the grain; then the baskets were filled, and the grain allowed to fall gently into a clean basket, thus getting rid of all dust and chaff, which was blown away by the air. Mealies were picked off the stalk, thrown into baskets, and removed to the village where the women stripped the mealies from the cobs by means of small sharp stones, with which they used to hit off the mealies, holding the cob in the left hand on a large flat stone. The harvesting is still done in very much the same manner, save that flails are now used to thrash with in most parts of the country.

When the grain is dry it is stored in enormous bag-like baskets, sometimes 6 ft., and even more, in height. When full, these baskets are securely closed, and no one except the master of the house is allowed to open them. These baskets are kept outside, near the owner's hut, and in wet weather are covered with