French enterprise in Africa

by Hourst

Alas! we must tell the whole truth, and this reference to Petrarch brings me back to my subject: Tuareg women in general. What a pity that after all I have said about their lofty spirit, their manners, and the good influence they exercise, I am obliged to own that I cannot admire their figure, which resembles that of a Durham cow ready for a prize show, or of a moulting goose more than anything else.

Their faces are pleasing, sometimes even very pretty. Delicate features, big eyes full of expression, and very long black hair parted in the middle and plaited together at the back of the head, give them a charming appearance, but they have absolutely no figures, they are just one mass of fat; their arms are like the jellies exposed for sale in pork-butchers’ shops, and the less said about the rest of their bodies the better.

In striking contrast to their wives, Tuareg warriors are generally very lean, and their figures are well knit. Their limbs are very finely moulded, and they walk with a slow dignity all their own, raising their feet rather high from the ground much as an ostrich does, a mode of progression which is probably the reason for their habit of leaning on their spears as they advance.

The most striking peculiarity of the Tuareg costume is the veil, called the litham in Arabic, and the tagelmust in Tamschek, which covers the face, leaving only the eyes visible. It consists of a band of stuff, generally black, which goes round the head like a turban to begin with, and then passes over the mouth and nose, coming round a third time across the forehead, and looking rather like a visor.

The tribe to which a Tuareg belongs is shown by his tagelmust. A well-bred Amacher never takes it off, not even to eat or sleep, and the negroes of the riverside have adopted the custom in imitation of their masters. Their veils are, however, generally white, as are also those of Tuaregs who are not rich enough to buy the lustrous black stuffs from Haussa, used by the well-to-do.

The veil seems to have been originally adopted as part of the Tuareg costume on hygienic grounds, for in the long wanderings of the tribes amongst the sand of the deserts it protects the respiratory organs. By degrees, however, this tagelmust grew to be considered a sign of the modesty of the wearer, and to show the face became a breach of etiquette.

Strange to say, the women do not hide their faces, a very noteworthy difference this between Mahommedans, whose females are always veiled, and Tuaregs, amongst whom it is the men who thus disguise their features. To make up for this, however, if a Tuareg woman wishes to show great respect to any one she is talking to, she covers her mouth with a piece of her robe.

The Tuaregs themselves tell the following legend—they have one for every occasion—to explain this peculiarity of their costume.

“In olden times women used to keep their faces veiled as do the Mahommedans, whilst men left their faces uncovered; but one day the enemy surprised a camp of our ancestors. The attack was so sudden and so utterly unexpected that the Tuaregs were seized with panic and fled, leaving behind them their families and their property. They flung down their arms, making no effort to defend themselves, but trusting for escape entirely to the fleetness of their legs.