290 STRANGE CUSTOMS OF SAVAGE RULERS 



the Cross on the ground with a finger, for the same purpose; but 

 this is evidently a remnant of old missionary teaching. 



Titles — ^-the love for them, and the endless variety of designa- 

 tions intended to express dignity — might equally be enlarged on, 

 without the subject being at all exhausted, while the multiplicity 

 of fashions adopted in dressing their woolly hair, filing their teeth, 

 splitting their ears, or generally improving upon nature, will be 

 touched, as far as so extensive a theme admits of. We may, hovv^- 

 ever, note in this place a few singular customs, which give a better 

 idea of African characteristics than more labored analyses of their 

 mental traits. 



HOW WIVES MANAGE HUSBANDS. 



One custom said to be universal in Oriental Africa is that of a 

 w^oman tying a knot in anyone's turban, thereby placing herself 

 under his protection in order to be revenged upon her husband, who 

 may have beaten her for some offense. In due time, when the hus- 

 band comes to claim her, he is compelled to pay a ransom, and to 

 promise, in the presence of his chief, never again to maltreat her. In 

 nearly every village in Unyamwesi there are two or three public 

 houses, or perhaps they might be called clubs. 



One is appropriated to the women, and another to the men, 

 though at the one frequented by the men all travelers of distinction 

 are welcomed by the chiefs and elders. As soon as a boy attains the 

 age of seven or eight years, he throws off the authority of his 

 mother, and passes most of his time at the club, usually eating and 

 often sleeping there. On the death of a Wagogo chief, the son is 

 supposed to look upon his father's eldest surviving brother as his 

 new and adopted father, but only in private and not in public affairs. 



There is another point connected wdth the black races of Africa 

 to which a few lines may be devoted. The hair of most Africans — 

 and universally of the Negro and Negroid tribes — is short, inclined 

 to split longitudinally, and much crimped. In South Africa the Hot- 

 tentot's hair is more matted into tufts than that of the Kafhr, while 

 it is not uncommon to find long hair, and even considerable beards, 

 among some of the tribes inhabiting the central plateau o{ the con- 



