WHEN DRESS IS FIRST WORN -- PAINT AND OIL -- THE FIRST GARMENT, AND ITS IMPORT -- APRONS OF KAFFIR GIRLS -- VARIOUS MATERIALS OF WHICH THE APRONS ARE MADE -- BEADS AND LEATHER -- CHANGE OF DRESS ON BETROTHAL -- DRESS OF A MARRIED WOMAN -- THE RED TOP-KNOT, AND ESTIMATION IN WHICH IT IS HELD -- JEALOUSY AND ITS RESULTS -- AN ELABORATE DRESS -- ORDINARY APRON OF A MARRIED WOMAN -- BEAD APRON OF A CHIEF’S WIFE -- CURIOUS BRACELETS OF METAL -- THEIR APPARENT INCONVENIENCE -- BRACELETS MADE OF ANTELOPE’S HOOF -- COSTUMES USED IN DANCES -- QUANTITY OF BEADS USED IN THE DRESS -- A STRANGE HEAD DRESS -- BELTS AND SEMI-BELTS OF KAFFIR WOMEN -- NECKLACES -- GOOD INTEREST AND BAD SECURITY -- IMITATION OF EUROPEAN FASHION -- SUBSTITUTE FOR HANDKERCHIEFS -- ANECDOTE OF A WEDDING DANCE -- KAFFIR GALLANTRY -- A SINGULAR DECORATION -- KAFFIR CASTANETS -- EARRINGS OF VARIOUS KINDS. As in the last chapter the dress and ornaments of the Kaffir men were described, the subject of this chapter will be the costume and decoration of the women. Both in material and general shape, there is considerable resemblance between the garments of the two sexes, but those of the females have a certain character about them which cannot be misunderstood. We will begin with the dress, and then proceed to the ornaments. As is the case with the boys, the Kaffir girls do not trouble themselves about any clothes at all during the first few years of their life, but run about without any garments except a coat of oil, a patch of paint, and perhaps a necklace, if the parents be rich enough to afford such a luxury. Even the paint is beyond the means of many parents, but the oil is a necessity, and a child of either sex is considered to be respectably dressed and to do credit to its parents when its body shines with a polish like that of patent leather. When a girl is approaching the age when she is expected to be exchangeable for cows, she indues her first and only garment, which she retains in its primitive shape and nearly its primitive dimensions until she has found a suitor who can pay the price required by her parents. This garment is an apron, and is made of various materials, according to the means of the wearer.