HOME LIFE OF THE AFRICAN. 
105 
In the happy instances where baby is so fortunate as to be fed 
on natural food, it grows rapidly, and its fatness stands it in good 
stead as it rolls or creeps in the dust of the village street, or as it 
falls in its early attempt to stand alone. 
The mothers’ love for their children is the purest love that 
enters into their lives, and while the children are yet infants, the 
SOCIAL AMUSEMENT AMONG THE NATIVES. 
women are generally accorded some exemption from the usual long 
list of woman’s duties. 
The child, if a boy, is apt to be neglected. Its mother is again 
fully occupied with her tasks, many of which take her away from 
the village for half-days. A man will kindly nurse and fondle his 
helpless baby while his wife may be away, but when the boy’s ability 
to run about relieves both parents, he may suffer during their 
absence. A jealous fellow-wife will take small interest to give him 
food, or to interfere for his defense against the self-assertion of 
some bigger boy. 
