COSTUME Ot BOTH SEXES 
105 
tvomen quit tliis dress on tlîeir marriage, and then appear in si 
piece of cotton cloth, which hangs below the caif of the leg. 
The women are passionately fond of ornaments ; they w^ear 
t^ar-rings, necklaces, bracelets, finger-rings, chains, strings of 
coral, Sec, and paint their faces with ditferent colours. In short, 
an African lady, on coming from her toilet, is an object well worth 
observance. Over the ordinary dress, which is nothing but 
the small and short petticoat, they put another of red tuffety; 
a silk handkerchief thrown loosely round their neck, falls dowa 
them like a child's bib : another of the same colour is put over 
the head; and the ears, neck, &c. are loaded with the ornauients 
already mentioned. They dress their hair in curious folds, so 
as to form crescents or circles, paint the forehead w^iite, and ge^ 
nerally have five or six silver rings on each finger. A lady of this 
description on going out has her servants w aiking behind her ; 
they are generally girls from ten to fifteen years of age, who are 
the handsomest that can be found, and who ornament themselves 
with coral and seeds ; they wear a piece of taffety or fine India 
stuff thrown over the left shoulder. 
The men's dress is a large shirt without either collar or waist- 
band, but with wide sleeves, trowsers, which reach below the 
calf of the leg; and a hat or small cap, which sitS tight on the 
head, and is made of the linen of the country. In other respects 
they generally go with the head and feet bare, the chiefs ex- 
cepted, who always endeavour to imitate the Whites. The Man- 
dingos, however, are disthiguishabie from the rest by always 
wearing red sandals and bonnets, and ornamenting their shirts 
and trowsers Avilh embroidery, at which they are very clever. 
The men never walk without their hebiws, which is a large 
.and straight knife hung in a belt at the right thigh; they in fact 
carry two instruments, one to eat with, and the other to defend 
themselves. 
The Negroes build their villages generally on the banks of a 
river or creek, that they may follow fishing ; and such a place 
may al ways be recognised by the pullams with which it is sur- 
rounded: these are large trees, whose presence always amiouric- 
€s an uncultivated countrv : for the natives never give themselves 
the trouble to clear more soil t].»an they want to build on; they 
are not even aware, that the felling of the trees that sui round 
them, would render their dwellings more wholesome. Tiieir 
streets are never built in a straight line, because each person 
chuses the spot which he likes best; he then builds as many little 
houses as he has women or people to accommodate, and the 
whole of these huts describe a cncle, v,^hich is surrounded by 
stakes, as has already been mentioned; while such is the activity 
oi vegetation, that these stakes in a few njonths become a corn- 
