The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

iJ74SOUTH AND KAST AFRICA.clear tlio land much in the same way as tlie backwoodsmen in America. Felling thetrees with the axe, thej- make a great bonfire of the heapcd-up branches, and whenthe ashes have been blown about by the wind they sow thecorn between the stillstanding charred stumps. Wlien tracts covered with tall grasses have to bereclaimed they remove the top soil, burning it together with the herbage in orderto enrich the ground. Mapira, or sorgho, is their chief crop, but they are alsoacquainted with nearly all the other alimentary plants of Central Africa, as wellFig. 78.—NoKTH KxD 01" Lakb Nyassa.• Soak' 1 ; l'Jl)l),lil}ll.u..i,'^^^i^^^iL^. -4,East of Greenwich35-joas with tobacco, hemp, and two species of cotton, the /iaja and mange, that is tosay, the native and foreign.Except in time of mourning, all the Maganya women wear the pclelc, as theycall theyryff, that is to %'a\, the disc or ring inserted as au ornament iu the upper lip.The material is cither of wood for the poor or of tin and ivory for the upperclasses, while in size this frightful incumbrance ranges from two or three to asmany as five inches in circumference. The action of laughter causes the lip torise, concealing both eyes, but revealing the nose through the oj^ening, as well asthe whole row of teeth all filed to a point. But it is even worse iu the case ofwidows, whom fashion compels to remove the lip-ring, when the lip falls, and thegreat round hole, called hipcklc, shows the teeth and jaw quite plainly, especiallyM ben tlicy speak. " How any jiooplo in all the world,'' exclaims Mrs. Priugle,