[Lander’s Travels by Robert Huish]@TWC D-Link bookLander’s Travels CHAPTER X 10/19
The women have also incisions on their faces, but in a different fashion; the lines being from two to five in number, cut on each cheek bone, from the temple straight down; they are also stained with blue.
These incisions being made on the faces of both sexes when they are about twelve months old, the dyeing material, which is inserted in them, becomes scarcely visible as they grow up. With the exception of the king and queen, and their immediate companions, who had a change of dress about once a week, the people are in general very dirty, sometimes not washing themselves for twelve or fourteen days together.
Besides the queen, who, as has been already stated, wore a profusion of ivory and bone ornaments in her hair, some of a square shape, and others about as thick as a shilling, but rather smaller, strings of which she also wore about her wrists and ankles; many of the women were decorated in a similar manner, and they seemed to consider hardly any favour too great to be conferred on the person who would make them a present of these precious ornaments.
Gold ear-rings were much worn, some of the women had also rings on their fingers, but these appeared to Adams to be of brass; and as many of the latter had letters upon them, he concluded, both from this circumstance and from their workmanship, that they were not made by the negroes, but obtained from the moorish traders. The ceremony of marriage amongst the upper ranks at Timbuctoo is, for the bride to go in the day-time to the king's house, and to remain there until after sunset, when the man who is to be her husband goes to fetch her away.
This is usually followed by a feast the same night, and a dance.
<<Back Index Next>> D-Link book Top TWC mobile books
|