352 
CIRCUMCISION. 
On the following day, the girls who have undergone the 
operation promenade the village accompanied by an old 
woman. They stop at every door to solicit donations, the old 
women speaking for them. The young women never go out 
without a reed which they carry in the left hand. They 
also wear on this occasion a man's cap of a large size, the 
front of which is supported by a piece of flexible wood 
put inside to make it stand up. With this head-dress these 
girls look like giantesses. Instead of a reed, I have seen 
some of them carrying an iron arrow, as an emblem of the 
circumcision. The persons whose hospitality is appealed to 
on the part of the newly circumcised, hasten to prepare, 
each in his turn, victuals sufficient for a great dinner or sup- 
per, into which they put salt, and which is distributed among 
the patients. All their friends and neighbours follow this 
example if they please ; but those who are betrothed must 
not fail, and they continue to send dinners to the circum- 
cised until their recovery, which in general is not completed 
until six weeks after the operation. Their fathers, who 
never live in the same hut, also send them more provi- 
sions than usual. Large plateful s of rice or tau are distri- 
buted by the mothers among the neighbours and relations. On 
these occasions I was never forgotten. The good negress, 
my landlady, always took care that I should have my share. 
The fathers and mothers are extremely fond of their 
children, and they, in their turn, have a great veneration for 
their parents. Indeed, respect and obedience to the old is 
a rule rigorously observed. In all these countries I never 
saw a mendicant. The aged who are unable to support 
themselves are always maintained and treated with respect 
by their children. In this part of the interior I saw a blind 
man, but he did not beg, as is the custom for such persons 
in other negro countries. Many travellers have asserted 
that the children retain a stronger attachment to their 
mother than to their father ; but for my part, though I had 
