252 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



willing parent, the young woman is decked in all her 

 finery, and sent in company with another girl (invariably 

 one of plainer appearance, that she may fittingly act 

 as a foil to the future bride's charms) from village to 

 village, and in some cases from district to district, 

 where she dances and shows herself to all her friends 

 and acquaintances, in order that she may receive from 

 them gifts appropriate to the occasion of her marriage. 

 This is continued for several days, ceasing only when 

 she or her parents are satisfied that _the generosity of 

 the neighbours has been exhausted. Then is she given 

 over into the hands of the old women. The young 

 man presently comes to claim his bride, and from that 

 day on they are man and wife. 



The position of women here is from birth an entirely 

 subservient one, unless by chance in their old age they 

 are sufficiently intelligent to convince their neighbours 

 of their possession of supernatural power; in which 

 case their influence is almost as great as that of a 

 medicine-man. 



The young girls and boys move about entirely unclad. 

 At the age of ten, or thereabouts, the young girl dons 

 a bit of leather, or a short skirt of other material, worn 

 about the waist ; but after marriage the women are clad, 

 almost to the extent of decency, with .hides and skins. 



The boys after circumcision wear a short cloak simi- 

 lar to that worn by the warriors ; and the old men wear 

 a whole cowhide, or, if particularly wealthy, they may 

 indulge in the extravagance of clothing themselves in 

 a warm robe of monkey skins. After marriage the 

 short cloak worn during youth and early manhood is 

 laid aside. 



