It Was At Once A Tribute Of Praise
To The Deceased And A Lesson To The Living.
The negro women suckle their children until they are able to walk of
themselves.
Three years' nursing is not uncommon, and during this
period the husband devotes his whole attention to his other wives.
To this practice it is owing, I presume, that the family of each
wife is seldom very numerous. Few women have more than five or six
children. As soon as an infant is able to walk it is permitted to
run about with great freedom. The mother is not over solicitous to
preserve it from slight falls and other trifling accidents. A
little practice soon enables a child to take care of itself, and
experience acts the part of a nurse. As they advance in life the
girls are taught to spin cotton and to beat corn, and are instructed
in other domestic duties; and the boys are employed in the labours
of the field. Both sexes, whether bushreens or kafirs, on attaining
the age of puberty, are circumcised. This painful operation is not
considered by the kafirs so much in the light of a religious
ceremony as a matter of convenience and utility. They have, indeed,
a superstitious notion that it contributes to render the marriage
state prolific. The operation is performed upon several young
people at the same time, all of whom are exempted from every sort of
labour for two months afterwards. During this period they form a
society called solimana. They visit the towns and villages in the
neighbourhood, where they dance and sing, and are well treated by
the inhabitants. I had frequently, in the course of my journey,
observed parties of this description, but they were all males. I
had, however, an opportunity of seeing a female solimana at Kamalia.
In the course of this celebration it frequently happens that some of
the young women get married. If a man takes a fancy to any one of
them, it is not considered as absolutely necessary that he should
make an overture to the girl herself. The first object is to agree
with the parents concerning the recompense to be given them for the
loss of the company and services of their daughter. The value of
two slaves is a common price, unless the girl is thought very
handsome, in which case the parents will raise their demand very
considerably. If the lover is rich enough, and willing to give the
sum demanded, he then communicates his wishes to the damsel; but her
consent is by no means necessary to the match, for if the parents
agree to it and eat a few kolla-nuts, which are represented by the
suitor as an earnest of the bargain, the young lady must either have
the man of their choice or continue unmarried, for she cannot
afterwards be given to another. If the parents should attempt it,
the lover is then authorised by the laws of the country to seize
upon the girl as his slave.
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