Chap. L* 
THE OTHER SEX. 
395 
were sound and beautiful, she burst out into a roar 
of laughter, and repeated, in a coquettish and flip- 
pant manner, " beautiful eyes, beautiful eyes." 
There is a great difference between the Kaniiri and 
Bagirmi females, the advantage being entirely with 
the latter, who certainly rank among the finest 
women in Negroland, and may well compete with 
the Fiilbe or Fellata ; for if they are excelled by them 
in slenderness of form and lightness of colour, they 
far surpass them in their majestic growth and 
their symmetrical and finely-shaped limbs, while the 
lustre and blackness of their eyes are celebrated all 
over Negroland. Of their domestic virtues, how- 
ever, I cannot speak, as I had not sufficient op- 
portunity to enable me to give an opinion upon 
so difficult a question. I will only say that on 
this subject I have heard much to their disadvan- 
tage ; and I must own that I think it was not all 
slander. Divorce is very frequent among them as 
inclination changes. Indeed I think that the Ba- 
girmi people are more given to intrigues than their 
neighbours; and among the young men sanguinary 
encounters in love affairs are of frequent occur- 
rence. The son of the lieutenant-governor himself 
was at that time in prison on account of a se- 
vere wound which he had inflicted upon one of his 
rivals. In this respect the Bagrimma very nearly 
approach the character of the people of Waday, who 
are famous on account of the furious quarrels in 
which they often become involved in matters of love. 
