Across Nhambiquara Land 223 



the women were as well-fed as the men, and were obvi- 

 ously well-treated, from the savage standpoint; there was 

 no male brutality like that which forms such a revolting 

 feature in the life of the Australian black fellows and, 

 although to a somewhat less degree, in the life of so 

 many negro and Indian tribes. They were practically 

 absolutely naked. In many savage tribes the men go abso- 

 lutely naked, but the women wear a breech-clout or loin- 

 cloth. In certain tribes we saw near Lake Victoria Ny- 

 anza, and on the upper White Nile, both men and women 

 were practically naked. Among these Nhambiquaras 

 the women were more completely naked than the men, 

 although the difference was not essential. The men 

 wore a string around the waist. Most of them wore 

 nothing else, but a few had loosely hanging from this 

 string in front a scanty tuft of dried grass, or a small 

 piece of cloth, which, however, was of purely symbolic 

 use so far as either protection or modesty was concerned. 

 The women did not wear a stitch of any kind anywhere 

 on their bodies. They did not have on so much as a string, 

 or a bead, or even an ornament in their hair. They were 

 all, men and women, boys and well-grown young girls, 

 as entirely at ease and unconscious as so many friendly 

 animals. All of them — men, women, and children, 

 laughing and talking — crowded around us, whether we 

 were on horseback or on foot. They flocked into the 

 house, and when I sat down to write surrounded me 

 so closely that I had to push them gently away. The 

 women and girls often stood holding one another's hands, 

 or with their arms over one another's shoulders or around 

 one another's waists, offering an attractive picture. 



