122 William F. Daniell, Esq., on the Ethnography of 



vate misfortune, the women clipping their hair short, and the men 

 allowing it to grow long ; whereas in their seasons of prosperity the 

 reverse happens, the women wearing their hair long, and the men 

 close, as stated by Plutarch. In the country now under considera- 

 tion, the duration of these indications of mourning are variable, and 

 are evidently guided more by the social position of the deceased, and 

 the amount of wealth he has accumulated, than other motives. For 

 the poorer class of natives and others of limited means, the prescribed 

 probation is about six months ; to caboceers and other personages of 

 note, one year ; while the mulatto grandees, from their assumption of 

 superiority, exact the dedication of two years and upwards to their 

 memory. Upon the notification of a death to the inhabitants of the 

 town, the relatives, family connections, and other intimate friends, 

 assemble together for the object of establishing a custom or feast in 

 honour of the departed, the representation of which would rather sug- 

 gest to the stranger, on first sight, that he was witnessing some popular 

 exhibition of conviviality, than the preliminary scene of lamentation 

 and woe. On the day preceding the interment, the populace generally 

 congregate around the mansion of the deceased (where the corpse, ela- 

 borately adorned in all its paraphernalia of decoration, is exposed to 

 view), and these fire off a number of muskets; dances and other 

 fantastic evolutions subsequently occur, amid a concert of tomtoms 

 and drums, that lend their aid to enliven the spectators. On such 

 celebrations, great quantities of rum and other ardent liquors are 

 quickly consumed, and intoxication is the usual result, which, if 

 the interpretation of the natives be adopted, is solely induced with 

 the laudable intention of dispelling the sorrow they then experience 

 for the loss of their fellow-citizen. Upon the expiration of three 

 weeks, another display of these ceremonies takes place, accompanied 

 by the same peculiar exhibitions, after the cessation of which all 

 further manifestations of respect on the part of his family and 

 friends terminate, the requisite term of public mourning having 

 been formally completed. According to the ancient laws of the 

 country, the wives and other female relatives, particularly the 

 former, are imperatively bound, at the finish of their allotted com- 

 memoration, to institute a corresponding custom, of a greater or 

 less duration, proportionate to the extent of their resources. These 

 rites ostensibly appear to have been established for the purpose of 

 religiously enforcing the observance of those obligations due to the 

 memory of the dead, to denote the dissolution of all prior ties or 

 alliances, and also to shew that the females are at liberty to form 

 new engagements (unless claimed by the succeeding family heritor), 

 or enter into other matrimonial schemes as they find most conducive 

 to their interest. With reference to the men, a compliance with 

 these practices is less strictly exacted, and, therefore, such are not 

 often prolonged beyond the brief interval of a few weeks or months 

 as the case may be. 



