A SPRING IN THE DESERT.
"Mr. Thomson gives an interesting account of the Wa-teita women, who anoint themselves with oil, from head to foot, and would consider their toilet incomplete without it. They pull out their eyelashes and eyebrows, file their teeth into points, and then cover their necks with string upon string of beads, so that they can hardly turn their heads. On neck, shoulders, and waist, a belle of the Wa-teita carries from twenty to thirty pounds' weight of beads, and it is needless to say that beads are an important article of commerce among the traders who go from the coast to that country.
"When a man of the Wa-teita wishes to marry he arranges the preliminaries with the girl's father, and agrees to pay a certain number of cows. As soon as the bargain is completed the girl runs away, and hides among distant relatives until such time as her betrothed can find her hiding-place, and catch her. Then he engages some of his friends, who carry her home on their shoulders, with a great deal of singing and dancing. When they reach home the bridal couple are shut up in their house for three days, without food; at the end of that time the bride is carried to her father's house by a party of girls, and after a while returns to the home of her husband and the ceremonies are over.
A WEDDING-DANCE.
"Leaving this region, the expedition passed through a belt of forest, and came, at length, near the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, the famous Mount Olympus of Africa, already mentioned. Perhaps Doctor Bronson will tell us something about it, as he has been reading Mr. Johnston's book, describing the exploration to it."
"A very interesting book it is, though less so to the general reader than to the scientific one. Mr. Johnston is, as you know, a naturalist, and the principal part of the book is devoted to his special line of study. The English Royal Geographical Society paid the expenses of the expedition, and instructed Mr. Johnston to reside in the vicinity of the mountain for at least six months, and make collections of the floral, animal, and other products of the region, as close to the snow-line as was conveniently possible."
"From that I suppose that the mountain is capped with snow," Fred remarked, as the doctor paused a moment.