22 
MISSIONARY LIFE 
CHAPTER VIL 
DRESS. 
The dress of the African is little better than 
none, if we except that worn by some of the head- 
men of towns. The aristocracy and ^^hig gentle 
men pass everybody else,” whose dress is hardly 
passable for even a warm country. 
The Mohammedans commonly wear the Man- 
dingo shirt, which is a loose gown with flowing 
sleeves. It makes not only a decent, but a com- 
fortable covering for the body in a tropical climate, 
and is decidedly superior to the best clothes used 
by the other natives. With them, a country cloth 
tied around the waist often forms the only article 
of clothing worn by both sexes. Many of both 
sexes have nothing on their persons hut a totran- 
ger, and young females sometimes have nothing 
but a girdle of heads fastened around the waist. 
And worse than all, many of the young people — 
sometimes old ones — are in a state of entire nudity. 
Children taken into the mission-schools feel 
