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and his retinue joined. This procedure continued for about
a half hour. After that, the king turned everybody out of the
room and got on his knees beside his stepmother, who, after
talking with him, requested a doctor from us. Mr. Kovalev,
the doctor from the "Discovery," was with us. He immediately
went to work and in a few days cured the queen. She was a
woman about 50 years old and a real giant. When we entered,
she was still being pummeled by the women as she lay on the
floor.

Having sat, or rather, having stood for some time, be-
cause there was nothing to sit on except on the floor, the
king went into his hut and invited us with him. Getting there,
the first thing he did was to remove all his clothing consist-
ing of a white flannel jacket, of the same for breeches; a
shirt, shoes, and a round straw hat. In place of all these,
he put on his maro, a kind of narrow belt, one end of which
passes between the legs and is attached on the back to the
same belt. This maro constitutes the only clothing of men,
and is made of a fabric of local manufacture prepared from the
bark of papyrus [paper mulberry] in the following manner.
Pulling the bark off the tree, they soak it in lime water for
about two weeks. After that, taking it out, they stretch it
on boards and fold the edges together in a width that they need
in their fabric. Afterward, they beat it with flat beaters,
pouring with the same water until it becomes as thing as paper.
They dry it in this shape in the sun and then rub it with
their hands until it becomes soft. They paint it with various