INTERIOR OF AFRICA. I55 
behind, which are fastened together over the shoulders. The 
head-dress, is commonly a bandage of cotton cloth, with some 
parts of it broader than others, which serve to conceal the face 
when they walk in the sun; frequently, however, when they 
go abroad, they veil themselves from head to foot. 
The employment of the women varies, according to their 
degrees of opulence. Queen Fatima, and a few others of high 
rank, like the great ladies in some parts of Europe, pass their 
time chiefly in conversing with their visitors, performing their 
devotions; or admiring their charms in a looking-glass. The 
women of inferior class, employ themselves in different domes- 
tic duties. They are very vain, and talkative; and when any 
thing puts them out of humour, they commonly vent their 
anger upon their female slaves, over whom they rule with 
severe and despotic authority; which leads me to observe, that 
the condition of these poor captives is deplorably wretched. 
At daybreak, they are compelled to fetch water from the wells, 
in large skins, called girbas; and as soon as they have brought 
water enough to serve the family for the day, as well as the 
horses (for the Moors seldom give their horses the trouble of 
going to the wells), they are then employed in pounding the 
corn, and dressing the victuals. This being always done in the 
open air, the slaves are exposed to the combined heat of the sun, 
the sand, and the fire. In the intervals, it is their business to 
sweep the tent, churn the milk, and perform other domestic 
offices; With all this they are badly fed, and oftentimes cruelly 
punished. 
The men's dress, among the Moors of Ludamar, differs but 
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