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.”