The history of the condition of women in various ages and nations

by Lydia Maria Child

AFRICA.

It has been said Egypt was the first nation that became civilized, and framed wise laws, by which they agreed to be governed. It had reached the height of its grandeur, and was beginning to decay, while nations which we call ancient were yet in their infancy. Moses, the great lawgiver of the Jews, is said to have been learned in “all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” Thebes, with its hundred gates and immense population, was a subject of wonder and praise even in the days of Homer. Solon and Herodotus, Pythagoras and Plato, travelled in Egypt to witness her magnificent works of art, and gather from the far-famed stores of her intellectual wealth.

Such was Egypt, long before Greece and Rome had existence! This early civilization might be in part owing to the annual overflowing of the Nile, which made it impossible for the inhabitants to subsist by hunting and fishing, and thus compelled them to turn their attention to agriculture. During the inundation of the river, they were obliged to take shelter in houses raised on piles above the reach of the waters. Men and women, being thus placed in each other’s society, naturally endeavored to please each other, and female influence produced its usual effect of softening the character, and rendering the manners more polished and agreeable. From this union, music, poetry, and the fine arts would naturally flow, as the stream from its parent fountain.

It is generally supposed that the Egyptians were a colony from Ethiopia, and that their complexion was black. Herodotus, who travelled in Egypt, distinctly states that they had “black skins and curly hair.” Speaking of the tradition that two black pigeons had flown from Thebes in Egypt, and established oracles, one at Dodona, and the other in Libya, the same writer says, the story doubtless refers to two priestesses stolen by the Phœnicians, and carried one into Libya and the other into Greece: he adds, “their being black explains to us their Egyptian origin.” Pausanias likewise informs us that the image of the Nile was always black, while the other river gods were uniformly represented as white.

The ancient statues of Memnon and the Sphinx afford no evidence with regard to complexion, because they are usually painted red; that being the color applied to sacred subjects both in Egypt and various parts of India.

The features, with the exception of the lips, do not correspond to the standard of “African features,” which we have somewhat arrogantly established. In point of fact, the various tribes of that vast continent differ from each other in appearance as much as the Italians and the Norwegians; and we have taken the worst-looking as our standard of “negro features.” Dr. Richardson says: “The Nubians are perfectly black, but without possessing the least of the negro feature; the lips small, the nose aquiline; the expression of the countenance sweet and animated, and bearing a strong resemblance to that which is generally found portrayed in the temples and tombs of the ancient Egyptians.”

A recent traveller tells us, “The Ethiopian women brought to Egypt for sale, though black, are extremely beautiful; their features being perfectly regular, and their eyes full of fire. The price offered for them is generally six or ten times higher than could be obtained for Arabian women.”

Herodotus says, the Egyptian women left the management of the loom to men, while they themselves were abroad engaged in commerce; and that the laws required daughters, instead of sons, to support indigent parents. Some writers have said that the queens of Egypt were much more honored than the kings; and that in the marriage contract husbands promised obedience to their wives.

It seems probable that there was something of exaggeration in this. Perhaps the opinion had its origin in some intentional satire, which was supposed to be sober truth. That the Egyptian women enjoyed a degree of freedom and importance very uncommon in that age of the world, is beyond a doubt. That they were not confined to their own apartments is evident from the fact that Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the river with her maidens to bathe. They likewise succeeded to the throne, and to the inheritance of their fathers. When Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, he built her a magnificent palace near his own, and allowed her to worship the gods of her own country. As this was in direct opposition to the customs and opinions of the Israelites, there is reason to suppose these peculiar privileges were stipulated by Egyptians in the marriage contract. Her father gave her the whole city of Gazer for her portion.

It is not probable that women of rank were engaged in laborious occupations, as was common in other countries. When Psammenitus, one of their kings, was taken prisoner, he and the chief of his nobility were placed on an eminence near the city of Memphis, while his own daughter and other captive women were ordered to bear water in pitchers from the river; and the monarch is said to have considered this a greater disgrace than the loss of his kingdom and his liberty.

But notwithstanding the high respect paid to Egyptian women, and the undoubted fact that they were largely engaged in commerce and agriculture, there are many things to prove that they had not such unlimited ascendency as to reverse the usual order of things, by governing their husbands, and compelling them to do the work within doors.

The honorable office of the priesthood was entirely confined to the men, both in the temples of the goddesses and the gods. The mercantile caravans, going through rude and warlike places, could not have been composed of women. In one of the ancient Egyptian mausoleums have been found paintings in bass-relief, representing men planning furniture, hewing blocks of wood, pressing out skins of wine or oil, ploughing, hoeing, and bringing in asses laden with corn to be stored in the magazines; there is likewise a group of boatmen quarrelling, and a band of musicians playing on the harp, the flute, and a species of clarionet. The only women introduced are a group of dancing women.

Nymphodorus remarks that Sesostris obliged the men to employ themselves in feminine occupations, because his subjects were becoming very numerous, and he wished to weaken their characters, in order to prevent revolt. In opposition to those writers, who attribute such unlimited freedom and influence to the Egyptian women, some have asserted that they were kept constantly shut up, and their feet cramped, according to the present custom of the Chinese.

It is probable that these contradictory accounts refer to different parts of Egypt; for the various districts differed so much in their customs, that what was worshipped in one was despised and abhorred in another.

The superstitions of the Egyptians formed a singular contrast with their scientific knowledge. They held many animals in religious veneration; such as the ibis, the crocodile, the cat, and the dog. If a cat happened to die, the whole family shaved their eyebrows in token of sorrow; and on the death of a dog, they shaved the brows and the head. Maximus Tyrius tells the story of an Egyptian woman, who brought up a young crocodile. “Her countrymen esteemed her particularly fortunate, and considered her the nurse of a deity. The woman had a son about the same age with the crocodile, and they grew up and played together. When the animal became large and strong, it devoured the child. The woman exulted in the death of her son, and considered his fate as blessed in the extreme, in thus becoming the victim of their domestic god.”

The ancient Egyptians believed the Nile would not overflow and fertilize their country, unless an annual sacrifice were offered to the deity of the river. For this reason, they every year, on the twelfth of their month Baoni, (corresponding to our June,) threw into the Nile a beautiful maiden, superbly ornamented. When Amru conquered Egypt, he abolished this cruel custom.

The Egyptians were fond of religious festivals, which they celebrated with music, dancing, feasting, and pompous processions. The women on these occasions were usually decorated with garlands, and carried in their hands symbols of the deity they worshipped. Herodotus, speaking of the famous festival of Isis, at Bubastis, says, “During the passage, the women strike their tabors, accompanied by the men playing on flutes.” Yet some writers have affirmed that the Egyptians did not allow women to learn music, lest it should relax the vigor of their minds. This might be true of some districts in Egypt; but it is more probable that public exhibitions of music were considered beneath the dignity of any but hired performers, as public dancing is still considered in many parts of the world.

The Egyptians, in common with other ancient nations, sanctioned great immodesty at their religious festivals; particularly those of Isis and Bacchus. We have no means of ascertaining how far this tended to corrupt the manners of their women. Among people of rank, birthdays were kept with great gayety and splendor.

They were accustomed to seat a veiled skeleton at their tables, decorated with a garland of dark-colored flowers; this was intended to remind the guests that death was with them, even in the midst of feasting and joy.

The common tendency to invest women with supernatural powers seems to have existed in Egypt. We are told that Athyrte, daughter of Sesostris, encouraged her father to undertake the conquest of the world, in consequence of her divinations, dreams in the temples, and prodigies she had seen in the air. Though women were not admitted to the order of hereditary priesthood, they were from time immemorial selected to perform certain sacred offices in the Egyptian temples. It was the duty of these consecrated maidens to gather flowers for the altars, to feed the sacred birds, and daily to fill the vases with pure fresh water from the Nile. The moon was worshipped in Egypt as a goddess, under the name of Isis; and it is supposed that these maidens performed certain mystic dances in her temple, as the devedassees of Hindostan now do in the temples of Brama. On these solemn occasions, the Egyptian girls wore small metallic mirrors under the left breast. The origin of the custom is unknown; some have supposed it was done that they might at every movement of their companions behold the reflected image of Isis.

Notwithstanding the prevalence of strange superstitions, it is generally supposed that the knowledge of one God, and of the immortality of the soul, were taught by Egyptian priests; and that these truths, carried into Greece, were concealed and preserved in the Eleusinian mysteries. The early Christians were surprised at the frequent appearance of a cross among the hieroglyphics of Egypt; some converted priests explained the mystery, by saying it had always been considered a symbol of life to come.

The ancient Egyptians were scrupulously neat. They bathed frequently, and washed their garments often. It was their custom to drink from brazen goblets, which were cleansed every day. In making bread, they kneaded the dough with their feet.

When a person of distinction died, it was customary for the females of the family to disfigure their heads and faces with dirt, and run about with their garments in disorder, beating themselves and making loud lamentations. This custom, so common among ancient nations, still prevails in many parts of the East.

There was a library at Thebes; and Homer was accused of stealing the Iliad and Odyssey from a similar establishment at Memphis. Though this accusation bears internal evidence of falsehood, it indicates the very ancient date of civilization and literature in Egypt. That this taste continued down to comparatively modern times appears from the celebrated Alexandrian library, established by the Ptolemies. The number of volumes is said to have almost equalled the largest library of recent times, and most of them were written in letters of gold.

Since the ancient Egyptian women were allowed in all other respects such a remarkable degree of equality with the men, it is reasonable to conjecture that they shared with them in literary acquirements.

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Modern Egypt presents quite a different picture. The population is a mixture of Egyptians, Persians, Syrians, Greeks, Arabs, and Turks. The men are ignorant, and the women servile. “Each family,” says Savary, “forms a small state, of which the father is king; the members of it, attached to him by the ties of blood, acknowledge and submit to his power. When the master of the family dines, the women stand, and frequently hold the basin for him to wash, serve him at table, and on all occasions behave to him with the extremest humility and reverence. The women of the wealthier classes spend their time principally among their slaves, in works of embroidery.”

When a rich man intends to dine with one of his wives, he sends a slave to give her notice; she prepares the most delicate dishes, and receives him with the utmost attention and respect.

Notwithstanding the general degradation of the sex, a virtuous and sensible woman can make herself greatly respected, even in degenerate Egypt. “The favorite wife of Mohammed Ali possessed an astonishing degree of influence over her impetuous husband, who always regarded her as the foundation of his good fortune. She was, likewise, much esteemed and beloved by the people; for her power was uniformly exercised on the side of justice and mercy. Much of her time was occupied in receiving petitions; but she seldom had to refer them to the pacha, as her ascendency was too well known by the ministers to require this last appeal. If, however, in consequence of any demur on their part, she was obliged to apply to him, he answered their remonstrances by saying, ‘’Tis enough. By my two eyes! if she requires it, the thing must be done, be it through fire, water, or stone.’”

The Turkish conquerors have carried into Egypt the enervating despotism and luxurious voluptuousness, which characterize their own land. The favorite residence of the pacha’s harem is at Shoubra, three miles below Cairo. In the garden are groves of fruit-trees, and walks shaded by evergreens, paved with pebbles in mosaic. A most splendid bath is inclosed by a quadrangular platform of white sand-stone, on which rests a handsome corridor. At each corner of the bath is a dressing room, and between each of these a magnificent divan, the canopy of which is supported by white marble pillars beautifully sculptured. In the centre of the bath is a seat for the pacha himself, from which he may behold his innumerable wives floating in the water around him. A highly sculptured gallery extends all around in front of the divans, resting upon the heads of four large crocodiles of white marble, from whose mouths the bath is partly supplied with water. In the centre is a grand jet d’eau; marble vases filled with flowers are dispersed about; and large statues of lions guard the doors. Water for this enormous bath is brought from the Nile by Persian wheels. The interior of this palace is rich with gilding, carved work, embroidery, and velvet hangings. The dress of the pacha’s favorites corresponds to the splendor of their residence. Some American ladies, who recently obtained permission to visit his harem, say that even the attendants wore head-dresses covered with diamonds.

No glass windows are seen in Egypt, except in a few houses built by Christian residents. A very close wooden lattice-work conceals the inmates of the house, excludes the air, and gives rather a dismal appearance to the streets. The quadrangular court in the centre (always formed by the eastern manner of arranging the walls of their buildings) is, however, open to the breezes, and generally kept wet and cool by a fountain playing on marble or stone pavements. This, as in other Mohammedan countries, is the usual place where the women sit at their weaving and embroidery, and are amused by the gambols of their children, or the dances of their attendants.

The Arabs who live in cities keep their wives in very close seclusion. In the large towns of Egypt these women rarely have more than one apartment, in which they eat, drink, and sleep. At night a piece of carpet is spread on the floor, and they lie down to rest, generally without changing their clothes. No male stranger is ever allowed to set his foot within the harem, and the ladies are not suffered to go out of it without being guarded and screened. The Arabs always decorate these bird cages with as much gilding, painting, carving, mosaic, and silk hangings, as their wealth will possibly allow; and they indulge their captives, to the utmost of their power, in rich shawls, muslins, silks, pearls, emeralds, and diamonds. In summer the common people often sleep on the flat roofs of their dwellings.

The Egyptian women, beside a large white veil over the head, usually wear a black handkerchief tied under the eyes and falling below the chin. Two sparkling eyes are the only part of the countenance that is visible. This, with their long loose robes tied up to the throat, gives them a strange spectral appearance. In cities many of these figures are seen gliding about, selling the embroidered handkerchiefs, so much used in the East, as parting presents to guests, and to wipe the fingers after eating sweetmeats, of which they are universally fond.

The country girls, closely veiled, are frequently employed in selling melons, pomegranates, eggs, poultry, &c. Their arms are often tattooed in fanciful patterns, and sometimes their faces are disfigured in the same way. It is a general custom to stain the eyebrows black and the fingers red.

Everywhere on the banks of the Nile, the poorer sort of women may be seen bringing up water from the river, in pitchers on their heads, or shoulders. In consequence of this habit, their motions are universally firm, well balanced, and graceful.

The Syrian women who reside in Egypt retain the customs of their country, and of course have more freedom than the Mohammedans. They seldom if ever go into the public streets without veils; but at home they eat and drink with their husbands, and are introduced to their guests. Even the wealthiest personally assist in the domestic occupations of the family, and hand refreshments and embroidered handkerchiefs to their visiters. The Syrian women are said to be generally distinguished by the peculiar beauty of their hands and arms.

A great number of slaves, of all colors and shades, are sold in Egypt; and these scenes are characterized by all the brutal and disgusting particulars which must necessarily everywhere attend the sale of human beings. When the French army left Egypt, shameful transactions were witnessed upon the quay at Rosetta. The French were busily employed in selling to the British troops the women who had lived with them during their stay in the country. Several of the English soldiers bought very pretty girls for one dollar each. These scenes occurred between two Christian nations!

There are public dancers in Egypt, of a character similar to those in India, but said to have less skill and grace. One of their most common dances at weddings, and other entertainments, is very similar to the Spanish fandango, but abundantly more indelicate.

After three o’clock in the day the women have the public baths to themselves; and here, as in Turkey, they are a favorite place of resort. Those Egyptians who have not private baths, often hire one of the public ones for an entire day, and indulge themselves in the luxury of taking with them their dinners, women, dancers, and story-tellers. With regard to a change of garments, the Egyptians are very uncleanly.

The marriage ceremonies are like those of Turkey.

The Egyptian women often wear amber or glass beads on the right wrist, and the left is almost always encircled with a brass twist. Sometimes they have bracelets above the elbow, with rings on the fingers and thumb.

As you go south, the swarthy complexion of the people becomes darker. In Upper Egypt (the site of ancient Egypt) the inhabitants are quite black. The women are tall, slim, erect, and generally well formed. They have very perfect teeth; but the mouth is distorted by the custom of making the under lip project, and coloring it blue. Their hair generally hangs in braids all round the head, those on the forehead being shorter. Their dress, ornaments, and occupations, are similar to those in other parts of Egypt, excepting that they do not wear veils. They are very modest, but have such simplicity of manners, that they nurse their babes before travellers without any consciousness of impropriety. Their dances are rapid and vigorous, mixed with undulating motions, as they from time to time bend towards their partners. Both sexes are extremely fond of this amusement, and their performances are said to be far from ungraceful.

In some remote and poor villages of Egypt the people are more barbarous; the women grease their hair, wear rings in their nostrils, and strips of black leather for bracelets.

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While Tyre was in its greatest prosperity, the capital of wealthy and proud Phœnicia, Pygmalion, the king, had a sister Eliza, generally known by the name of Dido. She married one of her royal relatives, named Sichæus, whom her brother put to death, in order to obtain possession of his immense fortune. Dido privately eloped with the most valuable of her husband’s effects, and after many disasters arrived at the northern part of Africa, near the place where Tunis now stands. Here she settled a colony, and built a city, called Carthage, which in the Phœnician language signified the New City. What Virgil relates of this queen is a fiction. She is supposed to have lived at least two hundred years before Æneas. Having bound herself by a solemn oath never to marry a second husband, she refused the offers of Jarbas, king of Getulia, who threatened to make war upon her colony, if she persisted in her resolution. Regarding her vow as sacred, and being unwilling to bring trouble upon her subjects, she caused a funeral pile to be kindled, into which she leaped and died.

History gives no information concerning the treatment of females in Carthagenia: a nation which owed its existence to a woman, who during her lifetime governed them with wisdom, and died to avoid involving them in danger, certainly ought to have regarded them with respect and tenderness. This is in some degree implied by the fact that when Tyre was besieged by Alexander, the Carthagenians, unable to assist them because they themselves were at war, offered to receive all the Tyrian women and children within their walls.

The conduct of Carthagenian women, during the invasion of Scipio, proves that they could not have been in a very degraded state. They not only freely gave all their jewels for the public service, but they labored hard in erecting fortifications, and both maidens and matrons shaved their heads, that their hair might be used for cordage. And when at last there was no alternative but to yield to the conqueror or perish, the wife of Asdrubal, the Carthagenian general, reproached him for his cowardice in supplicating mercy from the enemy, and seizing her infant children, rushed into the flames of the temple of Esculapius, which she herself had kindled.

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The inhabitants of the Barbary states and the neighboring deserts are descendants of the Arabs, known by the general name of Moors. Their manner of building is nearly the same that has prevailed in Syrian and Arabian cities from the earliest ages. Their houses have flat terraced roofs, sheltered courts with fountains in the midst, large doors, and spacious chambers. One small latticed window looks into the street; the others open into the private court. The latticed window is for the convenience of women on the occasion of great festivals. At such times both the inside and outside of the houses are much adorned, and the women show themselves in their best apparel. The same custom seems to be alluded to in Scripture, where we are told that when Jehu came to Jezreel, “Jezebel heard of it; and painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.”

On the occasion of a wedding, or any other great domestic ceremony, the company are received in the open court, which is strewed with mats and carpets for their reception. In summer these courts are screened from the sun by means of an awning drawn up with ropes, like the covering of a tent. The large chambers are generally entirely separated; each wife having her own apartment. Sometimes, when married children continue to reside with their parents, one room serves for a whole family. At the end of each chamber there is a little gallery raised a few feet above the floor, with steps leading to it. Here they place their beds; a custom which explains the Scripture phrases, “go up unto thy bed,” and “come down from thy bed.”

The wealthy have their walls hung with velvet and damask of various colors, the ceiling richly gilded, or painted in arabesques, and the floor paved with painted tiles.

Linen, flax, figs, and raisins, are dried on the terraced roofs, which are guarded by a balustrade, or lattice work. On these roofs they likewise enjoy the cool breezes of evening, and when the weather is very warm they sleep there.

The dwellings of the poor are constructed merely of palm branches, plastered with mud and clay, which in case of a shower sometimes dissolves and tumbles in pieces. The wandering tribes, called Arabs, live in tents, and have habits similar to the Bedouins.

The hills and valleys about Algiers are ornamented with pretty gardens and country-seats, where the wealthy inhabitants retire during the summer season. These gardens are well stocked with vegetables and fruit, and the rivulets afford an abundant supply of excellent water.

Young children go entirely without clothing. The women wear a long wide robe, generally blue, without sleeves, and modestly high in the neck. Another piece of cloth, usually of a different color, is thrown over the shoulders, like a mantle. Some wear sandals, others European slippers, either of red or yellow morocco. In passing over the hot sands of the desert, they sometimes wear high wooden clogs, which raise them several inches above the ground, similar to those used to protect the feet on entering the hottest rooms of the eastern baths. The long ample drawers worn by girls are of striped linen or silk, and sometimes embroidered with divers colors. When women appear in public they muffle themselves up in large mantles or blankets, called hykes, and veil themselves so that nothing can be seen but their eyes. Like other Arabs, they stain their eyebrows with powder of antimony, and sometimes paint a spot on the forehead, the chin, and one cheek; a circle round the eyes, in red or black, is likewise considered becoming. In the country they often go abroad without being veiled; but if they see a stranger approach they hastily screen their faces. Their hair is generally long and intensely black. They plait it in several tresses, and adorn it with ribbons, with glass, amber, or coral beads, and sometimes with shells. Sometimes two of these tresses are tied over the bosom, while the others fall over the shoulders, nearly to the ground; at other times the braids are arranged in a very becoming manner on the top of the head. The latter fashion forms a species of crown, over which elderly women wrap a piece of blue or white cloth, which crosses under the chin, and is tied behind. They may be often seen carrying on their heads large leathern bags, containing clothes, provisions, &c.

The Moorish women have generally bright sparkling black eyes, and handsome features. Those who are engaged in laborious occupations become swarthy; but ladies secluded from the influence of the sun often have delicate complexions. The higher classes in Tunis are particularly spoken of as handsome in their persons and elegant in dress; they often wear robes of the richest silk, adorned with gold buttons, lace, and embroidery.

The Moorish ladies have generally a great passion for ornament. They decorate their persons with heavy gold ear-rings; necklaces of amber, coral, and gold; gold bracelets; gold chains and silver bells for the ankles; rings on the fingers; silver cords around the head, with silver rings hanging pendent to the shoulder; and around the waist, under their garments, they wear ten or twelve strings of glass or crystal beads, which jingle as they walk. The poorer class in Fezzan wear glass beads around the head, and curl the hair in large ringlets, into which they stuff a kind of paste made of lavender, cloves, pepper, mastich, and laurel leaves mixed up with oil. Men are proud of having their wives handsomely dressed, because it is an indication of their own wealth and importance. Dr. Shaw says the Barbary women are so partial to the small mirrors which they wear about their necks, that “they will not lay them aside even when, after the drudgery of the day, they are obliged to go two or three miles, with a pitcher or goat-skin, to fetch water.”

The want of water in many places prevents them from washing their garments so often as is necessary for cleanliness. They anoint themselves with rancid butter, in order to keep off musquitoes and other insects.

When engaged in the house at work, the Barbary matrons not only lay aside their hykes and tunics, but even their drawers, wearing merely a cloth wrapped around them.

The women weave a coarse kind of cloth for the tent-coverings, made of goats’ or camels’ hair. It is woven in broad stripes, impervious to the rain. One of their principal occupations is the manufacture of the hykes or blankets, universally worn both by men and women. They have no looms, or shuttles. The warp is fastened to a peg in the ground, and the woof carried through with their fingers. They make butter in a goat-skin exposed to the sun. The Barbary cows give very little milk, but the sheep and goats are both useful for the purposes of the dairy. When the women make cheese, they separate the curd from the whey with the flowers of the great-headed thistle, or wild artichoke. The curds are put into small baskets made of rushes, or dwarf-palm, bound up close, and pressed. These cheeses seldom weigh more than two or three pounds. In the morning, the children and slaves are sent out to tend the cattle, and do not return until nightfall; the women in the mean time are engaged in their numerous household occupations, and not unfrequently work in the fields, and collect wood for cooking. When the tribes find it necessary to travel, the slaves drive the cattle, and the women take care of the dromedaries, while the men, mounted and armed, form a van-guard to protect the troop. The wives and daughters of the wealthy sit cross-legged on a small round concave saddle, placed on the back of a dromedary, and generally screened from the sun by a slight awning. The Barbary ox, a strong docile animal, with a large hump above the shoulders, is likewise much used for riding.

The Moors are indolent to excess. They lie whole days upon their mats sleeping and smoking, while the women and slaves perform all the labor. Owing to their uncleanly habits, they are much infested with vermin; and as they consider it beneath their own dignity to remove this annoyance, the task is imposed upon the women. They are very impatient and tyrannical, and for the slightest offence beat their wives most cruelly. The women, far from thinking a sound drubbing any disgrace, are rather disposed to regard it as a sign that their lords and masters consider them of some importance; but they are extremely mortified if the husband makes any complaint to relations. The Moors, like other Mohammedans, regard women as a very inferior race, created to serve them with unconditional submission. Wives are obliged to stand and wait upon their husbands while they are eating, and must be content with whatever food the men choose to leave. When a European expressed his surprise at such customs, they answered, “Why should such inferior creatures be allowed to eat and drink with us? If they commit faults, why should they not be beaten? They were made to bring us children, pound our rice, make our oil, and do our drudgery; these are the only purposes to which their degraded natures are adapted.”

Precisely the same arguments for abusing the defenceless are urged by Christian slave-owners! Among the Moors, masters and their Mohammedan slaves eat together; but if the slave be a Christian, he must eat by himself, and even the women and children will not touch the food he leaves. Illiberal and barbarous as this custom appears to us, they no doubt would regard as still more absurd the customs of the United States, which render it an abomination for two people of different complexions to eat at the same table. Their own superstitious abhorrence is inculcated by the Mohammedan creed, which they regard as sacred; but our prejudice is in direct opposition to the maxims of that religion, which we profess to reverence. In this respect, we must yield to the Algerine in point of sincerity and consistency.

Moorish daughters receive no portion of their father’s property, and have no dowry at the time of their marriage. When a man dies, his wife takes her young children and goes to live with her mother. The daughters are dependent on their elder brother. If the children are quite young, the chief of the tribe takes possession of the property, until the boys are old enough to have it divided among them. If there is no male child, the brother of the deceased is his heir.

The Moorish women, like the men, are exceedingly ignorant, covetous, and gluttonous; but they are not, like them, universally licentious; for they are taught that virtuous wives will become celestial beauties in another world, while all who fail in this duty will be forever annihilated. An unfaithful wife is punished with immediate death. A man has as many wives and female slaves as he can maintain.

Although the inhabitants of Fezzan are Mohammedans, their women are seen a great deal in public, and are remarkable for wanton manners. Some of the customs of the Moors seem at variance with their habitual contempt of women. The wives of chiefs are always appointed to conduct negotiations for peace; and a feminine voice of entreaty will arrest the uplifted scimetar just ready to fall on the head of an enemy. In common with the Bedouins, they consider the female apartments as a sanctuary, which protects even the murderer. In some tribes, where the women never appear before the men, the criminal, if he gets within hearing of their dwellings, calls out, “I am under the protection of the harem!” The inmates, without showing themselves, cry aloud, “Fly from him! Fly from him!” and even if the man were condemned to death by the prince himself, he is from that moment free to go where he pleases.

It would be considered a great breach of politeness for a Moor to enter his neighbor’s tent. If he wishes to see him, he calls him out; and the wife, hearing his voice, immediately veils herself. It would likewise be improper for a husband, when he entered the female apartments, to recline upon the mat which his wife was accustomed to use.

The Mongearts are an agricultural tribe, less intelligent, and more mild, than their neighbors. Their wives perform the greater part of the labor, but are not treated with so much harshness as among the other tribes. They have a simple method of preventing disputes when they divide the spoils taken in war or hunting. They separate the booty into as many lots as there are men; then each one puts some article into a bag, which is well shaken up, and the first woman or child they see, is called upon to take an article out of the bag, and lay it upon one of the lots. Each one recognizes what he put into the bag, and is obliged to rest satisfied with the lot on which it happens to be placed.

The Monselemines are said to be even more avaricious than other Moors. Every thing with them is settled by money. Among the other tribes, if a Mohammedan woman were known to have a Christian lover, she would be killed, and the man must change his religion to avoid death; but the Monselemines throw the woman into the sea, and allow the Christian to atone for his crime with money. The talbes, or Moorish priests, take as many wives as they can support. The women, as in other Mohammedan countries, do not go to the mosques, but perform their devotions at home, with their faces turned toward the east.

The Moors have extraordinary ideas concerning female beauty. They fancy an oily skin, teeth projecting beyond the lips, pointed nails an inch long, and a figure so corpulent, that two persons putting their arms around the waist could scarcely make their fingers touch. A woman of moderate pretensions to beauty needs a slave under each arm to support her as she walks; and a perfect belle carries weight enough to load a camel. Mothers are so anxious to have their daughters attain this unwieldy size, that they make them eat a great quantity of kouskous,[7] and drink several bowls of camel’s milk every day. Mungo Park says he has seen a poor girl sit crying for more than an hour with the bowl at her lips, while her mother stood over her with a stick, and beat her whenever she perceived she was not swallowing.

Still there are some girls of fourteen or fifteen, who have what Europeans would consider a very graceful shape, with a fine glow of health flushing their brown cheeks. Their teeth are regular, and always very white, owing to the constant practice of rubbing them with a little stick of tamarind wood.

The Moors marry at a very early age. Wives are always purchased; and the father of the girl cannot refuse an offer, unless there is some stain upon the young man’s character. The bridal tent is adorned with a small white flag, and the bridegroom’s brow is encircled with a fillet of the same color. The bride is conducted to the tent by her parents, where her lover presents her with garments and jewels, according to his wealth. A grand entertainment is given, and the young women dance all day to the sound of instruments, while the spectators regulate their motions by clapping hands. These dances are not very decorous.

The next day the young wife is bathed by her female relations, who braid her hair, stain her nails red, and put on a new dress. She visits in the camp all day, and in the evening is conducted back to her husband’s tent. If her father be destitute, his son-in-law generally assists him with a willing heart; and if the bridegroom be poor, her father does all he can to enable him to increase his flocks and herds. If a wife does not become the mother of a boy, she may be divorced with consent of the elders of the tribe, which is always granted; in this case she is at liberty to marry again. The mother of many sons is held in the highest respect, and is never suffered to perform any menial office. If a woman is very unhappy with her husband, she goes back to her parents; and though he may try to persuade her to live with him again, he cannot compel her to do it. If she persist in her dislike, she is even at liberty to marry another. But if she has a child, especially if it be a boy, this permission is not granted; should she stay with her parents more than eight days, under such circumstances, she would be liable to be put to death. Women do not take the name of their husbands, but always retain the one they received in infancy. The birth of a son is attended with the greatest rejoicings. The mother, by way of expressing her delight, blackens her face, for the space of forty days. On the birth of a girl, she blackens only half her face, for twenty days.

When a Moor sets out on a journey, his wife follows him about twenty paces from the dwelling; she then throws after him the stone used to drive the tent-pegs into the ground, and wherever it stops, she buries it until his return.

The Moors, like their Arab brethren, are exceedingly hospitable. A traveller is always sure of some refreshment, for his host would rather go without food himself than refuse it to a guest. If the master be absent, his wife, or slave, goes out to meet the stranger, asks him to stop at twenty paces from the tent, brings milk for him to drink, sees that his camels are unloaded, and furnishes him with mats and awnings to erect a temporary shelter for himself. If the guest be a man of rank, or one who has friends in the tribe, a sheep or an ox is killed in honor of his arrival. The wife cooks the meat, separating the fat, which is served up raw. The visiter’s share is placed on a small mat, carried by a slave, but always handed to him by the master himself, if he be at home.

The Moors plunder all travellers except those who are protected by the sacred rites of hospitality. Even the law authorizes theft in the night time; and on this account the women are very careful to convey into the tents every article of property before dark.

One of the greatest pleasures of Moorish women consists in visiting each other. Politeness requires that the guest should dress the provisions, make the butter, and cook the dinner, while her hostess entertains her with details of family affairs, and all the scandal and gossip of the tribe. On these occasions an unusual quantity of food is provided, and the master invites his neighbors to the repast. The more cooking the visiter has to do, the more she feels honored.

At funerals, the women howl and lament; a practice they continue at intervals, from the moment of decease till they return from the grave where their relative or friend has been deposited.

The Moors continually go out on predatory excursions to seize the negroes for slaves, to supply the insatiable market produced by Christian pride and avarice. Sometimes they lie in ambush round a village for days together, and when the helpless women and children come to the springs to get water, they seize them and carry them off. They place their captives behind them on horseback, holding one of their fingers between their teeth, ready to bite it off, if they give the least alarm.

Sometimes they set fire to a village at midnight, and seize the poor wretches that try to escape from the flames. The negroes have strong local attachments, and on such occasions the most agonizing scenes frequently occur.

The wives of wealthy Moorish chiefs have black female slaves, to whom they transfer all the toil, while they loll upon mats, smoking their pipes all day long. The poor slaves, who are treated with the utmost haughtiness and rigor, try to anticipate the slightest wish of their indolent mistresses. Sometimes they carry their attention so far, as to pick up every stone or stick, that might annoy the feet of these walking flesh mountains.

If a Moor has a son by any of his black slaves, the girl is much better treated than before; her child shares equal privileges with the other children, and is acknowledged as a free fellow-citizen like themselves. In this respect Christian slave-owners might learn a useful lesson from the ignorant Moslem.

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The dwellings of negroes are generally huts made of the branches of trees and thatched with palmetto. The king’s residence usually consists of a number of these huts surrounded by a clay wall. Each wife has a separate building, sometimes divided from the apartments of the men by a slight bamboo fence. Some of the African huts are very prettily painted, or stained, and the walls adorned with curious straw work. The Ashantees display a considerable degree of taste and even elegance in their architecture. Their houses and door-posts are elaborately carved with representations of warlike processions, and serpents seizing their prey.

The various African tribes differ as much in personal appearance as the inhabitants of the numerous Asiatic kingdoms. The Pulahs, or Fulahs, of Bondu, between the Senegal and Gambia, are copper-colored, and have long hair. Some of them are black, though less so than many tribes. Their women are slender and graceful, with languishing eyes, and soft voices. The Wolofs are tall and well-shaped, with prominent and rather aquiline noses, lips not very thick, black complexions, uncommonly sweet voices, and a very frank, mild expression of countenance. This tribe is considered the handsomest in Africa. A people called Laobehs, whose manners bear a great resemblance to those of the gypsies, are intermixed with the Wolofs, but have no fixed residence. They select some well-wooded spot, where they fell a few trees, form huts with the branches, and work up the trunks into mortars, and other wooden vessels. The women pretend to tell fortunes; and though short, ugly, and sluttish, they are much sought as wives, on account of a superstition that such connections bring good luck. The Laobehs possess no animals but asses, on which they travel during their frequent peregrinations. Groups of these men and women may often be seen squatting round a fire, smoking and talking.

The color of the Mandingoes is black intermixed with yellow. They have regular features, with a frank, intelligent expression. The women are almost universally well-shaped and handsome. The inhabitants of Bambara are not so black as the Wolofs, but have no pretensions to beauty. They have round heads, very closely curled hair, coarse features, flat noses, thick lips, high cheek-bones, and bandy legs. The inhabitants of Bornou, Mozambique, and Southern Guinea, bear a great resemblance to those of Bambarra. The Congoese have European features, bright eyes, and black complexions. The Kaffers, or Caffres, have likewise the European conformation of head and features; their complexion is glossy black, their eyes large and sparkling, their teeth are beautifully white and regular, and the expression of their countenances bright and good-humored. Travellers all agree in describing the men as uncommonly noble and majestic figures. The women are of lower stature, rather muscular than graceful; but many of them have very handsome faces.

The African women wear two long strips of cotton cloth, either blue or white. One is tied round the waist and falls below the knees; the other is worn over the shoulders like a mantle. The latter garment is generally thrown aside when they are at work. The upper part of the person is almost universally exposed. The wealthy sometimes wear a kind of robe without sleeves, under their pagnes, or mantles. Mungo Park speaks of seeing women in Bondou, who wore a thin kind of gauze, called byqui, which displayed their shape to the utmost advantage. Sandals are sometimes worn, but they more frequently go barefoot. Women of the island of St Louis, who are generally handsome, and many of them fair, by frequent intermarriages with Europeans, wear a long garment of striped cotton fastened at the waist, with another four or five yards in length thrown over the shoulders in the antique style. Striped cloth is twisted round the head, so as to form a high turban. Their slippers are usually of red, yellow, or green morocco, and they are seldom without golden ear-rings, necklaces, and bracelets.

The Kaffer women wear a cloak made of leopard or calf skins, dressed in such a manner as to be exceedingly soft and pliant. This garment, which is worn over the shoulders, and conceals all the upper part of the person, is never laid aside except in the very hottest weather. They wear no other clothing but a small apron. It is a singular fact that the Kaffer men care much more about ornaments than the women. Almost every individual wears necklaces of beads, or polished bone, with several ivory bracelets about his arms and ankles. Those who can afford it have wreaths of copper beads around their heads, from which brass chains are suspended. The women, on the contrary, seldom wear any other ornament than a row of beads, or small shells, around the edges of their aprons. Females of the royal family sometimes have a few brass buttons on their cloaks, and beads or shells on the skin caps they wear in cold weather. The other African women are very fond of ornaments. They decorate their heads with coral beads, sea-shells, and grains of gold and silver. Sometimes a small plate of gold is worn in the middle of the forehead. The gold dust, which they collect, is kept in quills, stopped with cotton; and these are frequently displayed in the hair. Sometimes strips of linen are stretched upon a stick, so as to form a turban in the shape of a sugar loaf, the top of which is covered with a colored handkerchief. In some places the hair is raised high by means of a pad, and decorated with an expensive species of coral brought from the Red sea. Among some tribes the women twist their woolly locks around straws greased with butter; and when the straws are drawn out, the hair remains curled in small tufts. This process requires a whole day. A more neat and simple style, is to braid the hair in several tresses, made to meet on the top of the head. Almost all the Africans grease their heads and anoint their bodies; a custom said to be necessary to prevent cutaneous diseases, and the attacks of insects, in warm climates. Tattooing is very common, and almost every tribe has a style peculiarly its own. The gold ornaments worn in Africa are generally very massive. The heavy ear-rings sometimes lacerate the ear, to avoid which they are often supported by a band of red leather, passing over the head from one ear to the other. The necklaces and bracelets are sometimes of gold fillagree work, very ingeniously wrought. Daughters of rich families wear a necklace of coral, intermixed with gold and silver beads, which crosses below the breast, and is fastened behind, under the shoulders. The skins of sharks, or strings of beads as large as a pigeon’s egg, are sometimes worn around the waist, and smaller beads decorate the ankles. In Bornou, they frequently wear a piece of coral, ivory, or polished oyster-shell thrust through the nose. African teeth are universally very white and regular. They are continually rubbed with a small stick of tamarind-wood, which they hold between their lips like a tooth-pick. Some tribes on the banks of the Gambia file their teeth to a sharp point. Mollien is, I believe, the only writer who speaks of veils worn by any except the Moorish ladies. He thus describes the sister and niece of a marabout,[8] who was his guide: “They had oval faces, fine features, elegant figures, and a skin as black as jet. I was charmed with the modesty of these women; whenever I looked at them they cast down their eyes, and covered their faces with their muslin veils.”

The inhabitants of Madagascar are tall, well proportioned, and of a very dark olive complexion. The women wear long robes reaching to the feet, over which is a straight tunic, that covers the upper part of the person.

The African women make butter by stirring the cream violently in a large calabash, or shaking it in skins, after the Arab fashion. In the forests of Bambarra is a tree called shea, from the kernel of which, when boiled in water, a species of vegetable butter is produced. The women put it down in earthen pots, and preserve it for a long time. Mungo Park says: “Besides the advantage of keeping a whole year without salt, it is whiter, firmer, and to my palate of a richer flavor, than the best butter I ever tasted made of cow’s milk.”

Cheese is never made in the interior of Africa. They give as a reason for it, the heat of the climate, and the great scarcity of salt.

When the planting season arrives, women dig small holes in the ground, into each of which they drop three grains of millet, and cover it with their feet. This simple process is sufficient in a country where the soil yields almost spontaneously. When the grain is nearly ripe, they erect tall platforms on poles, where the women and children are stationed by turns to frighten away the birds, by uttering loud cries. If the birds become so much accustomed to the noise as to disregard it, they bind a handful of leaves or straw around each ear of millet, to prevent their depredations.

Grain, instead of being threshed, is pounded in a mortar, and the chaff blown away. Mortars are used to prepare it for cooking, except in Abyssinia, where a daily supply of corn is ground in small hand-mills.

The African women separate the seeds from cotton by rolling it with a thick iron spindle; and instead of carding it, beat it violently on a close mat. In spinning, they use the distaff in preference to the wheel. Throughout the country they may be seen seated on a mat in front of their huts, engaged in this old-fashioned employment. Weaving is generally done by men. The women make nets and sails for their husbands, and cut and sew their garments with needles of native manufacture. They likewise dye cloth of a rich and permanent blue, with a fine purple gloss; these cloths are beautifully glazed. In the manufacture of common earthen vessels for domestic use, the women are as skilful as the men. A good deal of care is required to prepare the manioc, which forms a great article of food. This root is ground in a mill, and dried in small furnaces, before it can be used as flour. Mats, both for the table and for seats, are woven very firmly and neatly; hats and baskets are likewise very tastefully made of rushes stained with different colors; and the gourds from which they drink are often prettily ornamented with a sort of bamboo work, dyed in a similar manner.

The Kaffer women make baskets of a strong reedy grass, the workmanship of which is so clever that they will contain water. At Sackatoo, Mr. Clapperton met a troop of African girls drawing water from the gushing rocks. He says: “I asked them for drink. Bending gracefully on one knee, and displaying at the same time teeth of pearly whiteness, and eyes of the blackest lustre, they presented a gourd, and appeared highly delighted when I thanked them for their civility; remarking to one another, ‘Did you hear the white man thank me?’”

Here, as in Asia, the women generally act as porters, carrying large burdens on the head. Sometimes they may be seen sitting on mats by the road-side, selling potatoes, beans, and small bits of roasted meat, to travellers.

Men and women are both employed in digging and washing gold for the Moorish markets. Small shells, called cowries, constitute the general currency of Africa. All payments from the king’s household are made in branches containing two thousand cowries each. The women pierce and string these, deducting one-fortieth part as their own perquisite. Four hundred and eighty of these shells are equivalent to a shilling. The Africans are said to manifest a most extraordinary facility in reckoning the large sums exchanged for articles of merchandise. Europeans have been much surprised at this, being themselves unable to calculate so rapidly without the use of figures.

The wives of the king of Dahomey, generally to the number of three thousand, are formed into a regiment, part of which act as his body-guard, equipped with bows, arrows, drums, and sometimes muskets. They are regularly trained to the use of arms, and go through their evolutions with as much expertness as any other of his majesty’s soldiers.

Captain Clapperton thus describes a visit he received from the king of Kiama: “Six young girls, without any apparel, except a fillet on the forehead, and a string of beads round the waist, carrying each three light spears, ran by the side of his horse, keeping pace with it at full gallop. Their light forms, the vivacity of their eyes, and the ease with which they seemed to fly over the ground, made them appear something more than mortal. On the kind’s entrance they laid down their spears, wrapped themselves in blue mantles, and attended on his majesty. On his taking leave, they discarded their attire; he mounted his horse, and away went the most extraordinary cavalcade I ever saw in my life.”

In time of battle the African women encourage the troops, supply them with fresh arrows, and hurl stones at their enemies. In some tribes it is common for them to unite with the men in hunting the lion and the leopard.

Mr. Campbell attended a palaver, or council, in Southern Africa. He says, “The speeches were replete with frankness, courage, often with good sense, and even with a rude species of eloquence. The women stood behind and took an eager interest in the debate—cheering those whose sentiments they approved, or bursting into loud laughter at any thing they considered ridiculous.”

If the king of Congo dies without sons, his daughter, if she be marriageble, becomes absolute mistress of the kingdom. She visits various towns and villages, where she causes the men to appear before her, that she may select a husband from among them. When her choice is made, she resigns all authority into his hands, and he becomes the king.

Every great man has bands of minstrels, of both sexes, who sing his praises in extempore poetry, while they play upon drums, or guitars with three strings.

Some of these guiriots, or minstrels, travel about the country with their families, dancing and singing at every village where their services are required. The Africans are so partial to these wandering musicians, that they often make them quite rich by their liberality. The female singers are covered with various colored beads, and not unfrequently with ornaments of the precious metals. But though the guiriots are always welcome at weddings and festivals, though their songs kindle the soldier’s courage as he goes to battle, and enliven the dreariness of journeys through the desert, yet they are regarded with even more contempt than falls upon similar classes in other parts of the world. Not even a slave would consent to marry into a family that had followed this profession; and when they die, their bodies are placed in hollow trees, from the idea that crops of millet would certainly fail if they were buried in the earth. The guiriots dance in the same immodest style that characterizes the Asiatic performers. Their dances are always accompanied by drums and other musical instruments. Among the Wolofs none but public singers play on any instrument, it being considered disrespectable for others to practise this amusement.

The African women are so passionately fond of dancing, that wherever the itinerant minstrels appear, they flock around them, and encourage them by songs, while they beat time by clapping their hands. Indeed with this mirth-loving race every thing furnishes occasion for festivity and frolic. Their marriages and funerals conclude with dances; all their festivals are commemorated with songs and dances; every moonlight night the men and women meet in great numbers to enjoy this favorite exercise; and if the moon be wanting, they dance by the light of large fires. The young girls often unite together to buy palm wine, and after an entertainment at the hut of one of their companions, they go together through the village, singing in chorus a variety of charming airs, marking time by clapping their hands; these strains, though simple, and often repeated, are by no means monotonous. The Fulah songs are said to have a melancholy sweetness which is exceedingly captivating; and some of the Wolof airs are gracefully pathetic, while the measures in which they are composed indicates skill in music somewhat remarkable in a people so little civilized. On the banks of rivers and on the sea-coast, the inhabitants of villages one or two miles distant may be heard singing the same song, and alternately answering each other. Drums are their most common musical instruments; beside which they have a guitar of three strings, made of half a calabash covered with leather; a species of castanets, made of small gourd shells, filled with pebbles, or Guinea peas, which the dancers shake in a lively manner; and an instrument resembling a spinnet, called the balafo, in which the notes are struck by small sticks, terminated by knobs covered with leather. These instruments are generally of rude construction, and produce dull, heavy tones; but the voices of the people are peculiarly soft and melodious, and they are said to keep time with great exactness. Music is never mute in Africa. Whether the inhabitants are weaving at their doors, laboring in the fields, rowing their boats, or wandering in the desert, songs may be heard resounding through the air. Even the poor slaves dragged to distant markets, suffering with hunger, and thirst, and cruel laceration, will begin to sing as soon as they have a few moments rest; particularly if the assurance is given them that after they pass a certain boundary, they shall be free and dressed in red. Thus does the God of love console his guileless children even under circumstances of the greatest external misery! and man, in the wantonness of his pride, makes this blessed influence of Divine Providence an excuse for continued cruelty!

The Africans at their convivial meetings are extremely fond of listening to stories of wild and ludicrous adventures, and the wonderful effects of magic and enchantments. They have likewise a species of pantomime or puppet-shows. The women are extravagantly fond of a game called ouri, which they learned from the Arabs. A box with twelve square holes contains a quantity of round seeds, generally from the baobab tree. Each player has twenty-one seeds to dispose of; they play alternately, and draw lots who shall begin. The combinations are said to be more numerous and complicated than those of chess; yet girls of ten or twelve years old may often be seen sitting under the shade of a tree intently studying this difficult game.

Some of the African tribes have become Mohammedans in consequence of their connection with the Moors; but in general they are pagans. The belief in one Supreme Being and a future state of rewards and punishments is, however, universal, and without exception; they likewise believe that the Almighty has intrusted the government of the world to subordinate spirits, with whom they suppose certain magical ceremonies have great influence. When questioned upon these subjects, they always endeavor to wave the conversation, by answering reverently that such matters are far above the understanding of man. At the return of the new moon, (which they suppose to be each time newly created,) every individual offers a short whispered prayer of thanksgiving; but they pray at no other time; saying it is presumptuous for mortals to ask the Deity to change decrees of unerring wisdom. When asked why they observe a festival at the new moon, they simply answer that their fathers did so before them.

Phillis Wheatly, a black female child brought from the interior of Africa, and sold as a slave in Boston, New England, afterward gained great celebrity by her poetical writings, which, considering the period in which she lived, and the limited advantages of her own education, are certainly very remarkable. This intelligent woman could remember very little about the customs of her native land, excepting that her mother always poured out water before the rising sun.

Hornemann says it was the custom in Bornou annually to throw a richly decorated maiden into the Niger, according to the ancient custom in Egypt.

The Africans, like all uneducated people, are extremely superstitious. They never go to battle, or commence a journey, without being loaded with certain protecting charms, of which the most valuable are written sentences sewed up in little bags. The marabouts or priests sell an immense number of verses from the Koran, for this purpose. When major Denham was in Houssa, the women, having seen him write, came to him in crowds to obtain amulets to restore their beauty, preserve the affections of their lovers, and sometimes to destroy a rival. When the Portuguese first attempted to establish their empire in Congo, they found women of rank, who went about with dishevelled hair, beating drums, and pretending to perform magical cures; and the women of Loggum, who are said to be very intelligent, are still quite celebrated for their skill in witchcraft.

The Africans are generally prejudiced against undertaking any thing on Friday; if they are pursuing a journey, they will halt under a tree and wait till that day is over. There are likewise certain animals and objects, which if met unexpectedly are considered bad omens. An annual festival, called the tampcara, is distinguished by a strange superstitious custom. At this period a personage appears on the banks of the Gambia, to whom they give the name of Tampcara. The natives believe him to be a demon, and bestow without resistance whatever he pleases to demand. He appears only in the night, but his door is at all hours open to the women. Husbands dare not betray the slightest symptoms of jealousy, for fear of incurring the awful displeasure of Tampcara.

There is another pretended demon, called Mumbo Jumbo, whose mysteries are celebrated in the night-time. Several nights previous to his arrival, a great noise is heard in the adjoining woods. The men go out to meet him, and find him with a stick in his hand, decorated in a hideous and fantastic manner with the bark of trees. Preceded by a band of music, he approaches the village, where the women ranged in a circle fearfully await his arrival. Songs accompany the instruments, and Mumbo Jumbo himself sings an air peculiar to the occasion. The most profound silence follows. After a pause, Mumbo Jumbo points out those women who have behaved improperly during the year. They are immediately seized, tied to a post, and whipped by the mysterious visiter, with more or less severity, according to the nature of their offence. All the assembly join in shouts of derision, and the women are quite as ready to take part against their sisters in disgrace as they are accused of being in more civilized countries. When African wives are refractory, it is a common threat to remind them of the annual visit of Mumbo Jumbo, who will assuredly find out their faults and punish them accordingly. The dress in which he usually appears is often kept hung upon the trees, by way of admonition. This dreaded personage no doubt receives his information from the husband or father of the culprit; but the secret of the institution is so carefully preserved, that a king, whose young wife had coaxed him to tell it, was afterward persuaded to put all his wives to death to prevent discovery.

The following is the air sung by Mumbo Jumbo, as he enters a village:

MANDINGO
Air of Mumbo Jumbo

Alle’tto.

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Fan na boo la o fa na ma o

ton sa boo la le fe no bi na ni a o

The Africans have a most terrific idea of the sea, which they always call the big salt water. Some of the priests describe it as a malignant deity, and forbid people to approach it. Beyond this big water they suppose there is a land full of white sea-monsters, cannibals, and sorcerers, who send to Africa and carry off great numbers of men, women, and children, on purpose to devour them.

Poor Gustavus Vasa, who, with his little sister, was stolen while they were at play, was exceedingly terrified at the sight of Europeans in a vessel. “Where do these white monsters come from?” said he: “Do they always live in these immense dens upon the water? How can they move that great house, except by magic?”

The Africans consider our color quite as great a deformity as we regard theirs. When Andanson entered a village at a little distance from the coast, the children ran away screaming with terror; and it required a great effort to persuade them to approach the white man, and touch his long straight hair. Many of them suppose that the pale color of Europeans is owing to a leprous disease. When Mungo Park was detained at Benown, the king’s wives made him unbutton his waistcoat to show his white skin; and even after they had counted his fingers and toes, to ascertain that he was a human being, they could not refrain from a shudder whenever they approached him. The king’s sons seriously proposed to put out his eyes because they so much resembled a cat. The wives of the Foulah king were more civil to the traveller, but they found his features and color equally disagreeable. Mr. Park says: “As soon as I entered, the whole seraglio surrounded me, some begging for physic, others for amber, and all of them desirous of trying that great African specific, blood-letting. They were ten or twelve in number, most of them young and handsome. They rallied me with a good deal of gayety on different subjects, particularly on the whiteness of my skin and the prominence of my nose. They insisted that both were artificial. The first they said was produced when I was an infant, by dipping me in milk; and they insisted that my nose had been pinched every day till it had acquired its present unsightly and unnatural conformation. Without disputing my own deformity, I paid them many compliments on African beauty. I praised the glossy jet of their skins, and the lovely depression of their noses; but they told me that honey-mouth was not esteemed in Bondu. In return, however, for my company, or my compliments, to which they seemed not to be so insensible as they affected to be, they presented me with a jar of honey and some fish, which were sent to my lodging.”

The prejudice with regard to a white skin is not to be wondered at, when we consider that nearly all the intercourse between Europe and Africa has been for the purpose of obtaining slaves; and to this circumstance must be added the natural tendency we all have to admire what we are most accustomed to in our own friends.

Mungo Park feelingly describes the sufferings of some poor slaves that belonged to a caravan with which he travelled. He says: “One of the female slaves, named Nealee, began to lag behind, and complain dreadfully of pains in her limbs. Her load was taken from her, and she was ordered to keep in front of the caravan. About eleven o’clock, as the party was resting by a small rivulet, a hive of bees, which had been disturbed in a hollow tree, attacked the people and made them fly in all directions. When the enemy had desisted from pursuit, and all were employed in picking out the stings, it was discovered that Nealee had not come up. She was found, very much exhausted, lying by the rivulet, to which she had crept in hopes of defending herself from the bees, by throwing water over her body; but she was stung in the most dreadful manner. When the slatees[9] had picked out the stings as well as they could, she was washed with water and then rubbed with bruised leaves; but the wretched woman obstinately refused to proceed any farther, declaring that she would rather die than walk another step. As entreaties and threats were used in vain, the whip was at length applied. After bearing patiently a few strokes, she started up, and walked with tolerable expedition for four or five hours longer, when she made an attempt to run away from the coffle, but was so very weak that she soon fell down in the grass. Though she was unable to rise, the whip was a second time employed, but without effect. They tried to place her upon the ass which carried the provisions; but she could not sit erect; and the animal being very refractory, it was found impossible to carry her forward in that manner. The day’s journey was nearly ended, and being unwilling to abandon her, they made a litter of bamboo canes, and tied her on it with slips of bark. This litter was carried on the heads of two slaves, followed by two more, who relieved them occasionally. In this manner she was carried till the caravan reached a stream of water, where they stopped for the night. At daybreak poor Nealee was awakened; but her limbs were now so stiff and painful that she could neither walk nor stand. She was therefore lifted like a corpse upon the back of an ass; her hands fastened together under the animal’s neck, and her feet under his belly, with long strips of bark. But the ass was so very unruly, that no sort of treatment could make him proceed with his load; and as Nealee made no exertion to prevent herself from falling, she was quickly thrown off, and had her limbs much bruised. The general cry of the coffle now was, ‘Cut her throat—Cut her throat.’”

Mr. Park, not wishing to see this put in execution, hurried onward. When he had walked about a mile, one of Karfa’s domestic slaves came up with poor Nealee’s garment on the end of his bow, and exclaimed, “Nealee is lost.” Mr. Park asked if the garment had been given him for cutting her throat. He replied that Karfa would not consent to that measure, and they had left her on the road. The helpless creature was no doubt soon devoured by wild beasts.

Mr. Clapperton tells another painful story of a wretched slave mother, who saw her child dashed on the ground, while she herself was compelled by the lash to drag along her exhausted frame.

African mothers have an unbounded affection for their children. When Mr. Park was at Wawra, and known to be on his way to Sego, several women came and begged him to ask the king about their sons, who had been taken away to the army. One declared that she had neither seen nor heard of hers for several years; that he was no heathen, but said his prayers daily; and that he was often the subject of her dreams.

At Jumbo the same traveller witnessed an affecting interview between an African who had been long absent from home, and his relations. His aged and blind mother, leaning on a staff, was led forth to meet him. She stretched out her hands to welcome him, fondly stroked his hands, arms, and face, and seemed delighted to hear once more the music of his voice. Instances are likewise on record of mothers that have fallen down dead on the sands, when they saw their children forced away in slave ships.

When suffering the extremity of famine, mothers in the interior sometimes sell their children to a wealthier neighbor, for the sake of procuring food. But the domestic slavery of the Africans is altogether of a milder character, and more resembles Hebrew servitude, than the slavery existing among white men. Even the richest African lives in a manner so simple and pastoral, that little toil is requisite to supply his wants, and being a stranger to the love of accumulating wealth, he has no temptation to work his laborers beyond their strength. The slave and his master eat, drink, and work together in all the freedom of uncivilized life; and the master can neither put a slave to death for crime, or sell him to a stranger, without calling a public palaver, or discussion, of the elders of the tribe.

The affection of parents is warmly reciprocated by their children. An African will forgive any personal injury much more readily than a disrespectful epithet applied to his parents. “Strike me, but do not curse my mother!” is a common expression among them. Filial attachment is less strong toward fathers than toward mothers; because paternal love is weakened by being divided among the offspring of several different wives.

In general, the fondness of African mothers is confined to the bodily comfort of their children; but the Mandingoes extend their care to the formation of moral character. A Mandingo woman whose son had been mortally wounded by a Moor, wrung her hands in frantic grief, continually repeating, “He never told a lie; no, never.”

The women of Madagascar probably love their children as tenderly as other mothers, but with them superstition conquers nature, as it does among the Hindoos. If a magician decides that the day of a child’s birth is an unlucky one, parents endeavor to avert the supposed evil destiny that awaits the infant, by putting a violent end to its existence. Sometimes the innocent little creatures are left in a narrow path, through which large herds of cattle are driven; and if it escape without being trampled to death, it is supposed that the malignant influence is removed. Sometimes a wooden vessel is filled with water, and the babe’s face forcibly held in it, till it ceases to breathe; sometimes it is laid face downward in a pit dug for its reception; and sometimes a cloth is stuffed into its mouth until suffocation ensues. Parents themselves generally perform the horrid office, strengthened by the mistaken idea that there is no other way of saving the child from the misery predicted for its future years.

The hospitality which generally characterizes a pastoral people prevails in Africa. The blind are the only beggars ever seen. They assemble in greater or less numbers and take their rounds in the villages, singing verses from the Koran; and every one is ready to put grain and other provisions into the bags which they carry slung at their backs. The Seracolots are very remarkable for their hospitality. When a vessel anchors near one of their villages, the whole crew are abundantly and gratuitously furnished with every necessary; and when a stranger enters one of their dwellings, the owner goes out of it, saying, “White man, my house, my wife, my children, belong to thee.” This is no unmeaning compliment; from that moment the guest does in fact enjoy all the prerogatives of the master.

In cases where suspicion or fear led the men to treat Mungo Park with neglect or rudeness, he always found women compassionate and kind. When the chief of a Foulah village shut the door in his face, a poor woman, who was spinning cotton in front of her hut, invited him in, and gave him a plentiful dish of kouskous; and at another time when he sat pensive and hungry by the road-side, unable to procure any food, an old female slave stopped to ask whether he had any dinner; and being informed that he had been robbed of every thing, she took the basket of ground-nuts from her head, and with a benevolent look gave him a few handfuls. The weary traveller was about to thank her for this seasonable relief, but she walked away before he had time.

One tempestuous night the same daring adventurer, hungry, destitute, and disheartened, took shelter for the night under a tree. A Bambarra woman, returning from the labors of the field, inquired why he looked so sad; and when she learned his situation she took up his saddle and bridle, and bade him follow her. She conducted him to her hut, lighted a lamp, spread a mat for him to sit upon, broiled a fish for his supper, and gave him to understand that he might lie down and sleep without interruption. While he rested, the women in the hut resumed their spinning, an employment which had been for a while interrupted by their surprise at seeing a white man. As they worked, they sung an extempore song, of which the traveller was the subject.

The winds roared, and the rains fell;

The poor white man, faint and weary,

Came and sat under our tree.

He has no mother to bring him milk,

No wife to grind his corn.

CHORUS.

Let us pity the white man;

No mother has he to bring him milk,

No wife to grind his corn.

The air was sweet and plaintive, and the kind sentiments it conveyed affected Mr. Park so deeply that he could not sleep. In the morning, he gave his landlady two of the four brass buttons that remained on his waistcoat; these were all he had to offer to signify his gratitude.

“In all my wanderings and wretchedness,” says this enlightened traveller, “I found women uniformly kind and compassionate; and I can truly say, as my predecessor, Mr. Ledyard, has said before me: ‘To a woman I never addressed myself in the language of decency and friendship without receiving a decent and friendly answer. If I was hungry or thirsty, wet, or sick, they did not hesitate, like the men, to perform a generous action. In so free and so kind a manner did they contribute to my relief, that if I was dry, I drank the sweetest draught, and if hungry, I ate the coarsest morsel, with a double relish.’”

An Arab widow at Houssa became very much enamored with captain Clapperton, and he found some difficulty in ridding himself of her suit. According to Moorish custom, her eyebrows were dyed black, her hair blue, her hands and feet red, and her huge person was loaded with necklaces, girdles, and bracelets. In order still farther to tempt the European, she displayed to him an additional store of finery, and carried him through several rooms, one of which was ornamented with pewter dishes and bright brass pans. After these preliminaries, she proposed to send forthwith for a priest to unite their destinies. The captain stammered out the best apology he could, and hurried away. She followed him to a neighboring village, sitting astride on a very fine horse, with scarlet housings trimmed with lace. She wore a red silk mantle and morocco boots, and a multitude of spells sewed in various colored leather were hung around her. Her drummer was decorated in ostrich feathers, and a train of armed attendants followed her. It was rumored that she intended to make herself queen, and invite captain Clapperton to share the throne of Wawa. Her wealth and the influence she might enable him to obtain, for a moment tempted him; and as the widow had induced his servant Pascoe to take a wife from among her slaves, she had, according to African ideas, acquired some right to himself; but he soon directed Pascoe to return his wife, and thus destroy her remaining hopes. “It would indeed have been a fine end of my journey,” says he, “if I had deposed old Mohammed, and set up for myself, with this walking tun butt for a queen.”

One of Bonaparte’s officers, named Duranton, expatriated himself at the time France was conquered by foreign arms, and entered into commercial relations in Africa. He finally went as far into the interior as Kasso, where he adopted the language and habits of the natives. By his bravery and knowledge he soon gained unbounded influence. The king had an only daughter, about sixteen, whom her countrymen esteemed beautiful. Duranton, notwithstanding the prejudice against his complexion, was pleasing to the young damsel. He married her, and was soon after elected king of Kasso. He has extended the commerce of the tribe, but attempted no innovation upon their ancient customs. He eats, dresses, and sits after the manner of the natives, and observes precisely the same sort of etiquette that was maintained by his father-in-law.

On the coasts of Africa, where the natives have frequent intercourse with European sailors, they are exceedingly licentious and depraved.

According to Bruce’s description, the Abyssinian women are grossly familiar in their manners; at a village on the banks of the Gambia, the women were likewise guilty of very rude freedoms. They troubled Mr. Park exceedingly, begging for amber, beads, &c., and boldly proceeding to tear his clothes, in order to secure the buttons. He mounted his horse and rode off; but they followed him for more than a mile, trying to renew their outrages.

The women of Loggun are described by major Denham as intelligent, handsome, and lively; but their freedoms were not of the most delicate character, and they tried to pilfer every thing they could lay hands on. When detected they laughed, and called out to each other how sharp the traveller was in finding out their tricks.

Captain Clapperton makes great complaints of the loquacity of the women. He says they convinced him that no power, not even African despotism, can silence a woman’s tongue. According to his own testimony, however, their love of talk originated in mere childish curiosity, and was indulged with the kindest intentions.

In Walo, the crown is hereditary, but always descends to the eldest son of the king’s sister; and among several other tribes a man’s property is always inherited by the offspring of his sister, according to the custom of the Nairs of Hindostan. This circumstance does not indicate any great confidence in the character of women.

It has been said that the Africans are generally indolent; and when compared with the busy, restless sons of ambition and avarice, this is no doubt true. The soil is prolific and easy of cultivation; their wants are very few and simple; and they have not the slightest desire for the accumulation of wealth. During the few months which it is necessary to devote to agricultural pursuits, they are so busy that they scarcely allow themselves time for sleep; and the rest of the year they give up to child-like merriment.

The African race, as distinguished from the Arabs or Moors, are faithful, affectionate, sensitive in their feelings, and liable to almost instantaneous changes from gloom to gayety, according to the circumstances in which they are placed. When in the greatest misery, a kind look or word will animate them, as it does the heart of a little child; but when their cup of suffering is full, the “drop too much” which tyranny seeks to add to the bitter measure, often arouses them to fierce and desperate fury. In a state of freedom they are almost universally gentle, inquisitive, credulous, and fond of flattery.

Barrow speaks thus of the Kaffers: “A party of women were the first who advanced to salute us, laughing and dancing round the wagons, and putting on all the coaxing manners they could invent, in order to procure from us tobacco and brass buttons. Good temper, animation, and a cheerful turn of mind, beamed in all their countenances. We found them to be modest without reserve; extremely curious without being troublesome; lively but not impudent; and sportive without the least shadow of being lascivious. The most striking feature in their character was a degree of sprightliness, activity, and vivacity, that distinguished them from the women of most uncivilized nations, who are generally reserved toward strangers.”

The African laws are simple and rude, like their habits; but it appears from the accounts of travellers that widows retain peaceable possession of their property, and are able to transact business with perfect security. This implies a degree of good order in society, which one would not expect to find in uncivilized states.

In most of the tribes on the southern and western coast of Africa, women do not inherit the property of their fathers, either real or personal.

Among the Wolofs when a young man wishes to marry, he signifies it to the parents of the girl, who meet him at some public place in the village. When the young couple are surrounded by a circle of relatives, the man offers as much gold or merchandise, oxen or slaves, as he can afford to pay. The girl’s consent is not necessary for the completion of the bargain; but if she refuses to fulfil the promise of her parents, she can never marry another; should she attempt to do so, the first lover can claim her as his slave. As soon as the parties have agreed upon the price, the young man pays the required sum; and the same evening the bride is conveyed to the bridegroom’s hut, by a troop of relations and friends. On these occasions she always wears a white veil of her own weaving. The rejoicings continue for eight days, during which the guests are abundantly supplied with palm wine and other liquors.

Among the Sereres, when a lover has formally obtained the consent of relations, he summons his friends to assist him in carrying off the object of his choice. The bride shuts herself up in a hut with her companions, where they maintain an obstinate siege before they surrender to the assailants.

In Bambuk, the bride is escorted to the hut of her future husband. When she arrives at the door, she takes off her sandals, and a calabash of water is placed in her hand. She knocks, and the door is opened by the relations of the bridegroom, who remains seated in the midst of the hut. The bride kneels before him, pours the water over his feet, and wipes them with her mantle, in token of submission.

Mr. Park speaks of seeing a betrothed girl at Baniseribe, who knelt before her lover, and presenting a calabash of water, desired him to wash his hands; when he had done so, she drank the water, apparently with delight; this being considered a great proof of fidelity and love. In Madagascar, wives salute their husbands just returned from war, by passing the tongue over his feet, in the most respectful manner.

Among the Mandingoes, when the lover has settled the bargain with the girl’s parents, she is covered with the bridal veil of white cotton, and seated on a mat, with all the elderly women of the neighborhood ranged in a circle round her. They give her sage instructions concerning the performance of her duties and the propriety of her deportment as a matron. A band of female guiriots come in and disturb their serious lessons with music, singing, and dancing. The bridegroom in the mean time entertains his friends without doors. A plentiful supper is provided, and the evening is devoted to mirth. Before midnight the bride is privately conducted by her female relatives to the hut which is to be her future residence. The bridal party generally continue dancing and singing until broad daylight.

At the island of St. Louis, the native women often contract a sort of limited marriage with Europeans, and their vows are said to be generally observed with exemplary fidelity. They take the Portuguese title of Signora, and the children receive the name of their father. The bridal ceremonies are similar to the Wolofs. When the European husband leaves the country, he provides for his family according to his wealth, and the generosity of his character; and his wife is at liberty to marry again when she pleases.

In Congo, marriage is sometimes consecrated with Catholic ceremonies, by the converts to Christianity; but the pagan natives preserve the simplicity of their ancient forms. When a young man has selected a damsel that pleases him, he sends presents to her relatives, accompanied by a cup of palm wine. If the presents are accepted, and the wine drank, it is considered a sign of approbation. He visits the parents, and having received his bride from their hands, conducts her to his own house. Here she remains, till he is satisfied with regard to her temper, industry, and general propriety of deportment. Sometimes this season of probation lasts one year, and sometimes two or three. If either party becomes dissatisfied with the other, they separate, without any loss of reputation; but if mutually pleased, they signify it publicly to friends and relations, and the event is celebrated by a feast. The Portuguese missionaries made a strong effort to abolish this custom; but the people were much attached to it; and mothers universally declared they would not subject themselves to the reproaches of their daughters, by urging them to an indissoluble union with individuals, whose tempers and dispositions they had never seen tried.

In Abyssinia there is no form of marriage, except what consists in a mutual consent to live together as long as they please each other. This connection is dissolved and renewed as often as the parties think proper. From the highest to the lowest rank, no distinction is made between legitimate and illegitimate children. The women, though Mohammedans, appear freely in public; and the master of a family considers it a point of civility to offer his wife or sister to a guest. The celebrated queen of Sheba is supposed to have been an Abyssinian; and the monarchs now claim descent from Menilek, who they say was her son by Solomon, king of the Jews.

In Caffraria, the bridal ceremonies are so simple as scarcely to deserve the name. When young people wish to live together, opposition from parents is almost an unheard-of circumstance. A feast is prepared to give publicity to the event, and they eat, drink, and dance, for days or weeks in succession, according to the wealth of the parties. If a Caffer girl marries during the lifetime of her father, she receives for dowry as many cattle as he can afford to give; but after his death, she is dependent on the generosity of her brothers. As a wife costs an ox, or two cows, it is rare for any but wealthy Caffers to have more than one. Twins are said to be more common than in any other country, and three children at a birth is a frequent occurrence.

An African dowry is sometimes furnished in a manner painful to think upon. When the sultan of Mandara married his daughter to an Arab sheik, “the nuptials were celebrated by a great slave hunt among the mountains, when, after a dreadful struggle, three thousand captives, by their tears and bondage, furnished out the materials of a magnificent marriage festival.”

In Dahomey, all the unmarried females, throughout the kingdom, are considered the property of the despotic sovereign. Once a year they are all brought before him; he selects the most engaging for himself, and sells the others at high prices to his subjects. No choice is allowed the purchaser. He pays twenty thousand cowries, and receives such a wife as the king pleases to appoint; being obliged to appear satisfied with the selection, whatever may be her aspect or condition. It is said that some have, in mockery, been presented with their own mothers. This brutal and bloody sovereign usually keeps as many as three thousand wives, who serve him in various capacities. No person is allowed to sit even on the floor in the royal presence, except his women; and they must kiss the ground whenever they receive or deliver a message from the king. These women are watched with the most savage jealousy.

Mr. M’Leod, who visited Dahomey in 1803, had his compassion much excited by the sudden disappearance of Sally Abson, daughter of the late English governor by a native female. This girl, who had been educated in the European manner, was accomplished, and had a most winning simplicity of manner. Mr. M’Leod could obtain no tidings of her for a long time. But at last an old domestic ventured to tell him that she had been carried off by an armed band, in the night-time, to be enrolled among the king’s women.

The king of Ashantee has three thousand three hundred and thirty-three wives; a mystical number, on which the prosperity of the nation is supposed to depend.

The king of Yarriba boasted to captain Clapperton, that his wives linked hand in hand would reach entirely across his kingdom. The first question asked by the chiefs was, how many wives the king of England had; and when told that he had but one, they would burst into loud peals of laughter, accompanied by expressions of surprise and pity.

These numerous queens are, however, in fact, nothing but servants, and valued only as an indication of power and wealth. Beside forming a military guard for the king, they labor in the fields, bring water, and carry heavy burdens on their heads, just like the wives of the poorest subject.

The pagan Africans are formally married but to one wife; but they take as many mistresses as they can maintain, and send them away when they please. The lawful wife, provided she has children, has authority over all the female members of the household, and her children enjoy privileges superior to the rest; but if she is so unfortunate as not to be a mother, she is not considered as the head of the establishment.

The women belonging to one household generally live very peaceably. Each one takes her turn in cooking and other domestic avocations; and the husband is expected to be equally kind, generous, and attentive to all.

A slatee, with whom Mr. Park entered Kamalia, brought with him a young girl as his fourth wife, for whom he had given her parents three slaves. His other wives received her at the door very kindly, and conducted her into one of the best huts, which they had caused to be swept and whitewashed on purpose for her reception.

Dissensions, it is said, do sometimes occur, and the husband finds it necessary to administer a little chastisement before tranquillity is restored.

Unfaithfulness to the marriage vow is said to be very rare among the Mandingoes and the Kaffers. Throughout Africa this crime in a woman is punished by being sold into slavery; but the punishment cannot be arbitrarily and immediately inflicted by the husband, as is the case in many Asiatic countries; it is necessary to call a public palaver, or discussion, upon the subject. The price of a woman condemned for this vice is divided between the king and his grandees; it is therefore probable that they keep rather a strict watch upon the morality of their female subjects. Sometimes the paramour is likewise sentenced to be sold into slavery; sometimes he receives a severe flogging, amid the shouts and laughter of the multitude; and not unfrequently he is murdered by the abused husband. In this latter case, unless the murderer can buy a pardon from his prince, he is obliged to seek refuge in some other kingdom, where he falls at the feet of some rich person, and voluntarily acknowledges himself a slave; but he can never be sold, and is in fact regarded as one of the family. It frequently happens that the whole family of the culprit are obliged to flee their country, to avoid being sold into slavery for the crime of their relative.

The marabouts always marry among each other; and as the children follow the profession of their fathers, there are whole villages of these priests. They obtain great influence by being able to write verses of the Koran, and administer very simple medicinal remedies. They consider it a sacred obligation to ransom all persons of their own profession from slavery.

The ties of domestic affection are said to be peculiarly strong among the Shouaa Arabs, who reside in tents near the central part of Africa. When their chief learned that major Denham had been three years absent from home, he said, “Are not your eyes dimmed with straining to the north, where all your thoughts must be? If my eyes do not see the wife and children of my heart for ten days, they are flowing with tears when they should be closed in sleep.” His parting salutation to the traveller was, “May you die at your own tents, and in the arms of your wife and family.”

In some cases wealthy Africans do not avail themselves of the universal custom of polygamy. Barrow thus describes the Kaffer prince, Gaika: “At the time I saw him, he was under twenty years of age, of an elegant form, and a graceful and manly deportment; his face of a deep bronze color, nearly approaching to black; his skin soft and smooth; his eyes dark brown, and full of animation; his teeth regular, well set, and pure as the whitest ivory. He had the appearance of possessing in an eminent degree a solid understanding, a clear head, and an amiable disposition. He seemed to be adored by his subjects; the name of Gaika was in every mouth, and it was seldom pronounced without symptoms of joy. He had only one wife, who was very young, and, setting aside the prejudice against color, very pretty.”

The French traveller Brue says the women on the banks of the Senegal appeared to consider the condition of European wives very enviable, and expressed great compassion for him in being separated from his only wife without the power of marrying another. When Dr. Lichtenstein visited Latakoo, the women were, as usual, very curious about the Christian custom of having but one wife. The queen approved the system, but she thought polygamy was necessary in Africa, because such numbers of the men were killed in war.

Infants of a few hours old are washed in cold water and laid on a mat, with no other covering than a cotton cloth thrown loosely over them.

In twelve or fifteen days the mothers carry them about, suspended at their backs, by means of the pagne or mantle, which they fasten around the hips, and over one shoulder. Infants are kept in this situation nearly the whole day, while the women are busy at their various avocations. They are nursed until they are able to walk; sometimes until three years old. A few tumbles, or similar trifling accidents, are not considered worthy of much anxiety or commiseration. Till ten or twelve years old, children wear no clothing, and do nothing but run about and sport on the sands. Those who live near the sea-shore, are continually plunging into the water; in consequence of which scarcely any disease appears among them, except the small-pox. A child receives its name when it is eight days old. A sort of paste, called dega, is prepared for the occasion, and the priest recites prayers over it. He takes the babe in his arms, invokes the blessing of heaven upon it, whispers a few words in its ear, spits three times in its face, pronounces aloud the name that is given to it, and returns it to the mother. He then divides the consecrated dega among the guests, and if any person be sick, he sends them some of it. A similar custom prevails in the Barbary states.

The moment an African ceases to breathe, his wife runs out of the hut, beating her breast, tearing her hair, and summoning her neighbors by loud cries. Friends and relatives soon assemble in the hut, and join in her lamentations, continually repeating, “Woe is me!”

When the marabouts have rubbed the corpse with oil and covered it with cloths, each person goes up and addresses it, as if still living. In a few minutes they go away, saying, “He is dead;” the lamentations are renewed, and continue till the next day, when the burial takes place. Major Denham speaks of hearing the Dugganah women singing funeral dirges all night long in honor of their husbands, who had fallen in battle. These dirges were prepared for the occasion, and were so solemn and plaintive, that they could not be listened to without the deepest sympathy.

The body is conveyed to the grave in straw mats. Women hired for the occasion follow it with loud shrieks, and the most extravagant demonstrations of sorrow. They return howling to the hut, where they pronounce an eulogium on the deceased. If they perform their parts well, they are complimented by relations, and are treated with palm wine, or other spirituous liquors. For eight days in succession these women go to the grave at sunrise and sunset, and renew their lamentations, saying, “Hadst thou not wives, and arms, and horses, and pipes, and tobacco? Wherefore then didst thou leave us?”

The relations and friends of the deceased remain in seclusion with his widow eight days, to console her grief.

The Abyssinian women wound their faces while they lament for the dead. In Congo, the relatives shave their heads, anoint their bodies, and rub them with dust, during the eight days of mourning. They consider it very indecorous for a widow to join in any festivity for the space of one year after her husband’s death.

In Dahomey and Ashantee, wives, and slaves of both sexes, often one hundred in number, are slaughtered at the death of the king, from the idea that he will need their attendance in another world; and every year, at least one human being and many animals are killed “to water the graves” of the royal family. The government of Yarriba is more mild and paternal; but it is the custom for a few of the king’s favorite wives, and some of his principal ministers, to take poison, which is presented to them in parrots’ eggs, in order that they may go to serve his majesty in the world of spirits.

Fragrant flowers and a quantity of gold are sometimes buried with people of rank, for their use in another world. On the death of a young girl, the body is washed, anointed with palm oil, decorated in all her finery, and laid upon a bed; her companions join in a dance around her; and when this ceremony is concluded, she is buried in her best clothes. The graves are covered with little mounds of straw, on which a lance, bow, and arrow are placed for the men, and a mortar and pestle for a woman. The solemnities always conclude with a feast, at which the guiriots dance, while all join in singing the praises of the deceased.

The Africans, like the Asiatics, do not use knives or forks. All eat from a wooden bowl, which is placed on a mat, or low stool, in the middle of the hut. The women seldom eat until the men have done. After the repast a woman brings a calabash of water, and offers it to each of the guests, for the purpose of washing his hands and mouth. In Tesee the women are not allowed to eat eggs, though the men eat them without scruple. It is not known in what the custom originated, but nothing will affront a woman of that country so much as to offer her an egg.

In Congo, people of rank are often carried by slaves in a sort of hammock swung upon poles, which is frequently protected from the sun by an awning thrown over it. Women in all parts of Africa are often seen riding on asses or oxen. They guide the latter by means of a string passed through a ring in the nose; and they sometimes manage to make these quiet beasts curvet and caper.

Apes, baboons, and monkeys, are exceedingly numerous in Africa. A woman of the country of Galam, who was carrying some milk and millet to sell in a neighboring village, was attacked by a troop of apes from three to four feet high. They threw stones at her, and holding her fast, beat her with sticks, until she dropped the vessel she was carrying. She returned home much bruised, and the men formed a hunting party, which killed ten of the savage animals, and wounded several others; not however without getting sundry bites and bruises during the encounter.

The Hottentot race seem to be distinct from all other people, and surpassing all others, even the Calmucks, in ugliness. The eyes are long, narrow, and distant from each other; the eyelids do not form an angle at the extremity near the nose, but are formed in a manner very similar to the Chinese; their cheek bones are very high and prominent, and form nearly a triangle with the narrow pointed chin; the complexion is yellowish brown, like an autumn leaf; the hair grows in small tufts at certain distances from each other; when kept short, the head looks like a hard shoe-brush, but when suffered to grow, it hangs in the neck in a sort of hard twisted fringe. An old Hottentot woman is said to be a most uncouth and laughable figure; some parts of the body being very lank, and others jutting out in huge protuberances of loose flesh. The letter S gives the best idea of the curvature of their forms. The habit of throwing the breast over the shoulder, in order to enable infants to nurse while swinging at their backs, contributes not a little to increase their deformity. Yet some of the women, when very young, are said to be perfect models of beauty in the female form. Every joint and limb is well turned and proportioned, and the hands and feet are remarkably small and delicate, though they never wear shoes, or sandals. Their charms, however, endure but a very short time. They are old at thirty; and long before that time, their shape assumes those strange and disgusting disproportions, for which it seems difficult to account.

In their state of slavery they have suffered great cruelties from their masters, the Dutch boors of South Africa. The lands and flocks, of which their fathers had been in peaceful and happy possession, were wrested from them; they were compelled to labor without compensation; allowed scarcely food enough to support life; mangled with tough, heavy whips of the sea-cow’s hide; and sometimes, for the slightest offences, chained to a post, while shot was fired into their naked limbs. These Dutch tyrants introduced a singular degree of luxurious refinement into their mode of despotism; they did not, according to the usual custom of slave-owners, order their offending vassals to receive a certain number of lashes, but directions were given to flog them while their master or mistress lazily smoked out one, two, three, or four pipes.

Under these circumstances, the simple, kind-hearted Hottentots became servile, degraded, and wretched to the last degree. Unlike all others of the colored race, they were always gloomy and dejected, being rarely excited even to a languid smile. Their indolence was so great that they would fast a whole day rather than dig a root, if they might only be allowed to sleep. The natural color of their bodies was concealed by an accumulation of grease and soot, and their habits were so filthy that the description would be disgusting. Though strong in their attachment to each other, they were generally disinclined to marriage.

The situation in which women were placed,—being originally ignorant savages, and afterward completely in the power of masters, whose policy it was to brutalize them,—of course precluded all possibility of morality or modesty. In fact the immortal part of man seemed extinguished in the Hottentots, and they appeared to be altogether like the beasts of the field.

The bit of sheep-skin which they wear for clothing scarcely answers the purposes of decency, and with them it is entirely a matter of indifference whether it does or not. The women wear a small leather apron, seven or eight inches wide, which it is their delight to decorate with beads, shells, or large metal buttons. If in addition to this they can obtain beads for the neck, and copper rings for the arms, they experience as much delight as can possibly be felt by people of such a phlegmatic temperament. Those who cannot afford beads and shells wear leather necklaces and bracelets, and cover themselves with a piece of sheep-skin, cut into narrow strips, which hang in a bunch about half way to the knee. The rattling of this hard dry skin announces the approach of a Hottentot woman some time before she appears. In winter, they defend themselves from the cold by means of a sheep-skin cloak over the shoulders; and some wear skin caps on their heads, ornamented as their rude fancy dictates. Fragments of a looking-glass, to fasten in their caps, or among their hair, are considered as precious as diamonds with us.

The habit of greasing their bodies probably originated, as it did in other warm climates, in the scarcity of water, and the necessity of some protection from the rays of the sun. Barrow suggests that this practice introduced into South America would prove a salutary check to the prevalence of that loathsome disorder called the elephantiasis.

When a Hottentot wishes to marry, he drives two or three of his best oxen or sheep to the house of the bride’s relations, accompanied by as many friends as he can collect together. The animals are slain, and the whole assembly rub themselves with the fat. The men sit in a circle round the bridegroom, and the women round the bride. A blessing is then pronounced on the young couple, which principally consists in the hope that their sons will be expert huntsmen, and prove a comfort to their old age. A feast is then prepared, and when they have all eaten voraciously, a pipe is lighted, of which each one smokes a few whiffs, and then passes it to his neighbor. Feasting is sometimes kept up for several days; but they have no music or dancing. Men and women always eat separately.

When an infant is born, they rub it gently with fresh cow-dung, believing it to possess certain medicinal qualities; they then bruise the stalks of wild figs and wash the child in the juice; and when this is dry, fat, or butter, is liberally applied. After this the parents give it a name, which is generally the appellation of some favorite animal. A feast is given, of which all the inhabitants of the kraal, or village, partake, except the mother, who receives some of the fat for the use of herself and child.

Large numbers of the Hottentot women are childless, and a family of six is considered a wonderful prodigy.

The half European and half Hottentot children are remarkably vigorous and healthy, and become tall, well-proportioned men and women. This mixed race, somewhat remarkable for brightness and activity, seem likely to supplant the natives entirely.

It rarely happens that a Hottentot woman has twins, but when this is the case one of them is barbarously exposed in the woods, to be starved, or devoured by wild beasts, as the case may be. Very old people are sometimes exposed in the same way. All the other African tribes are distinguished for great respect and tenderness toward the aged.

When the Hottentot boys are eighteen years old, they are formally admitted into the society of men. The company of women, even that of their own mothers, is ever after considered a disgrace to them; and being released from all maternal authority, they not unfrequently beat their mothers and sisters, merely to show manly independence.

The women howl and lament for the dead, in the same manner that prevails in other portions of the continent.

A Hottentot kraal, or village, consists of a circle of low dirty huts, which at a little distance resemble a cluster of bee-hives. The employments of the women are such as generally fall to their lot in a savage state. A great many of them are slaves to the Dutch boors, and of course perform all their most menial and laborious occupations. Their patience and fortitude under suffering are truly wonderful.

Low as the Hottentots are in the scale of humanity, they are by no means destitute of good and agreeable qualities. They are very mild, inoffensive, open-hearted, honest, and grateful. Their affection for each other is so strong, that they will at any moment share their last morsel of food with a distressed companion; and they very seldom quarrel, or speak unkindly to their associates. They seem to be entirely destitute of cunning, and when they have committed a fault rarely fail to tell of it with the utmost simplicity.

M. Vaillant says: “They are the best, the kindest, and the most hospitable of people. Whoever travels among them may be sure of finding food and lodging; and though they will receive presents, they never ask for any thing. If they learn that the traveller has a long journey to accomplish, they will supply him with provisions as far as their circumstances will allow, and with every thing else necessary to enable him to reach the place of his destination. Such did these people appear to me, in all the innocent manners of pastoral life. They excite the idea of mankind in a state of infancy.”

The Hernhüters, or Moravian missionaries, have had a most blessed influence on this poor persecuted race. These missionaries cultivate gardens and fields in the neatest manner, and are themselves engaged in various mechanical trades. The Hottentots by kindness and punctual wages are induced to come and work for them, and the good fathers are ever ready to instruct them in agriculture and the mechanical arts. In 1824, nearly two thousand Hottentots lived in small huts, under the protecting influence of the missionaries, each one cultivating a little patch of ground to raise vegetables for his family. Some of them employed their leisure moments in making mats and brooms, while others obtained a comfortable subsistence by the sale of poultry, eggs, and cattle.

Three hundred of their children attended Sunday school; and they contributed five hundred six dollars to the missionary establishment by voluntary subscriptions. Under the fostering care of true-hearted, humble Christians, their habits of indolence and filth disappeared, and they became distinguished for industry and cleanliness. By the last accounts, about sixty Hottentots were communicants of the church.

Barrow, who visited the establishment in 1798, says: “Early one morning I was awakened by the noise of some of the finest voices I ever heard, and looking out saw a group of female Hottentots sitting on the ground. It was Sunday, and they had assembled thus early to chant the morning hymn. They were all neatly dressed in printed cotton gowns. A sight so different from what we had hitherto observed, with regard to this unhappy class of beings, could not fail of being most grateful.”

“On Sundays, they all regularly attend divine service, and it is astonishing how ambitious they are to appear at church neat and clean. Of the three hundred, or thereabouts, that composed the congregation, about half were dressed in printed cottons. Their deportment was truly devout. One of the fathers delivered a discourse replete with good sense, and well suited to the occasion; tears flowed abundantly from the eyes of those to whom it was particularly addressed. The females sung in a plaintive and affecting style; and the voices were in general sweet and harmonious.”

The Dutch had always excused their own tyranny by saying that their unfortunate victims could not possibly be raised above the level of brutes; and they manifested extreme jealousy of the influence of the Gospel, because it bringeth light and freedom. The same spirit, which always led them to place the poor Hottentot in the worst possible point of view, likewise induced them to represent the amiable and generous Kaffers as a savage, treacherous, and cruel tribe. Yet they knew perfectly well that the Kaffers had shown a remarkable degree of moderation toward the white colonists; and that in the midst of a war, into which they had been driven by a series of iniquitous persecutions, they spared the lives of all the Dutch women and children that fell into their hands, though their own wives and children were murdered by the Dutch without mercy.

In 1828 the British government relieved the Hottentots from their grievous thraldom, and at once bestowed upon them all the privileges of citizens. The change from slavery to freedom produces the effect that would naturally be expected by any one who had observed human nature attentively. This long oppressed race are fast improving in health, cleanliness, industry, and respectability.

The Bojesmans, or Bushmen, are wild Hottentots, who have always preserved their independence, though under circumstances of the extremest misery and want. In personal appearance they very much resemble the Hottentots, but are more diminutive and ugly. The colonists call them Chinese Hottentots, on account of the peculiar position and formation of the eyes and eyelids. Their customs and modes of life bear a general resemblance to those of their more submissive brethren; but, unlike them, they are very cheerful, active, and industrious. Both men and women spring from rock to rock, like wild antelopes, and their motions are so swift that a horseman finds it impossible to keep up with them on uneven ground. Although their scanty subsistence is earned with great danger and fatigue, they are always merry.

The deadly animosity of the Dutch settlers makes it necessary for them to remain concealed in their hovels among the rocks all day; but on moonlight nights, they come out and dance from the setting of the sun to its rising. They consider the first thunder storm as a sure indication that winter has passed away, and testify their joy by tearing off their sheep-skin coverings, and tossing them high up in the air. On these occasions, they dance for several successive nights. The circular places trodden around their huts indicate their fondness for this amusement.

The women usually wear a piece of antelope’s skin cut into filaments, after the manner of the other Hottentots; and like them they are entirely unconscious of any shame in being without even this scanty covering. Some of them wear caps made of ass’ skin, and bits of copper or shells suspended in the neck from their little tufts of hair. It is customary for elderly men to have two wives, one old and the other young. These poor creatures have such a dread of white men, that Mr. Barrow could hardly tempt the little children to come down the rocks toward his party, to receive the biscuits he held out to them. The mothers, finding their little ones were treated kindly, ventured to approach; and when they had received a few trifling presents, forty or fifty women and girls came down without any symptoms of fear. But the women went backward and forward a dozen times, with invitations and presents of tobacco, before one man could be prevailed upon to descend; and when he did, he half cried, half laughed, and trembled like a frightened child.

The Gonaquas are a tribe of unsubdued Hottentots, taller than the Bojesmans, but resembling them in personal appearance. The women generally paint the whole body with compartments of red and black. The red is an ochrey earth, the color of brick-dust, and the black is either soot or charcoal, mixed with grease. To finish this embellishment in approved style is a tedious process. Some content themselves with merely painting the cheeks. These colors are always perfumed with a powder called boughou, the smell of which is very disagreeable to those who are unused to it; but the Hottentots are so fond of it, that they will sometimes give a lamb for a thimble full of boughou. The men paint only the upper lip; by means of which they continually inhale the fragrance. When young girls consent to perform this office for their lovers, it is considered a very endearing proof of affection. These women are very fond mothers. Their principal occupations are cooking, taking care of their children, and making garments and vessels of the skins of animals sewed with sinews. Their aprons and cloaks are usually made of calf skins, and are longer and larger than those worn by other Hottentots. As soon as milk is taken from the cow, it is put in a leather sack with the hairy side inwards, and suffered to ferment; for, like the Arabs, they have a dislike to sweet milk.

The Dutch women at the Cape are excessively ignorant, tyrannical, lazy, and fat; the inevitable consequence of having slaves to do every species of labor, while they themselves indulge in great profusion of animal food. An old Dutch African woman is said to be as laughable a figure as an old Hottentot; one being as large and uninterruptedly round as a hogshead, and the other characterized by uncouth projections of the body. The young Dutch girls at the Cape are said to be much superior to their clumsy, awkward brothers. They are generally small and well formed, with social, unaffected manners. A few of the higher class are tolerable proficients in music, French, and English, and have considerable skill in lace and various kinds of needle-work. They copy with much eagerness the English fashions that are brought to them, from time to time, by ladies bound for India.

Sons and daughters share equally in the paternal inheritance, and an entire community of property, both real and personal, takes place at the marriage of two persons, unless provided against by a formal contract before the wedding.