THE HUMAN BEAST- OF BURDEN. 245 



donkey which could not pass with its load; the woman took the load 

 on her own back and carried it over, and then led the donkey over. 

 She also carried a load of at least 100 pounds, and she had a spindle in 

 her hands. Thus she went spinning* and singing over the rugged way 

 which I had passed with tears and pain. * * * In the evening they 

 spin and make sandals ; when they lie down, they place under their heads 

 the ropes to bind the heavy loads of grass and wood which they bring 

 down from the mountains. After midnight they go up to get loads. 

 * * * In the early morning I often saw the women, looking like 

 loaded beasts, coming down the precipitous mountain path, one after 

 the other, singing and spinning as they came. * * * I saw women 

 with great paniers on their backs and babies on top of these or in their 

 arms, going four days over that fearful Ishtazin pass, carrying grapes 

 for sale and bringing back grain. Men said the women must suffer 

 much more before God could forgive Eve's sin. 



a A few years ago a woman from Jeloo came to my home in Geogtapa. 

 Her husband, who was almost a giant, sickened in Gawar, and she told 

 me she had carried him on her back all the way, four days' journey. He 

 died in our house. I did not believe her then ; now I do, for my eyes 

 h.ive seen what loads these women carry."* 



11. On the head. — This process is usually called toting, and is espe- 

 cially characteristic of womenf of the lower classes and of negroes.J The 

 traveler may see the dairymaids anywhere in Europe carrying 25 pounds 

 of milk on the head, women in Iceland carrying loads of unsavory cod- 

 fish on their heads, and Italian peddlers of all sorts use the head for a 

 carriage. In the southern part of the United States 50 pounds is the 

 "toter's" steady load. Men and women constantly bear that amount. 

 A slater's assistant mounts a ladder with 50 pounds of slate on the head. 

 The farm woman totes a tub of water holding 10 gallons, the whole 

 weight being 100 pounds. The head-ring is seen among the Zuni In- 

 dians as a means of keeping the load on the head and relieving the 

 pressure. Pads of various kinds replace the ring where toting is for 

 long distances. § 



12. The forehead and the bregma are also parts on which to hang har- 

 ness. In civilization the yoke has passed from the forehead of the ox 

 to his scapulae. Comparing the head-strap of all our Indian tribes with 

 the neck-yoke of the Holland woman, it is permitted to see the same 



* Woman's Work for Women, November, 18H8, p. 296. 



t See illustration of Kaffir women carrying fagots in Wood's " Unciv. Eaces, vol. I, 

 p. 91. 



t "All along the road we met numbers of men, women, and children going to the 

 Badagry market, with palm-oil, corn, yams, fowls, fire-wood, etc., which they carried 

 in heavy loads on their heads, according to the universal custom of this country, 

 though the Golahs and others iu that region carry burdens on their backs." (Bowen, 

 Cent. Africa, p. 103.) 



§ Wood mentions the Bechuaua habit of "bogale," or drilling young girls in carry- 

 ing loads of wood long distances and jars of water without spilling a drop. (Unciv. 

 Races, i, p. 26.) 



