. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . N OF ALL NATIONS women, at their marriage, provided them-selves with knives, made of fi\e or sixsharks teeth, fixed to a small cane, withwhich to cut tlremselves on their husbandsdeath. Frightful wounds were often in-flicted. Mourning costume consisted in thewearing of an old ragged mat, the moreragged the better; and half-mourning per-mitted a wrapper of tapa to be worn under-neath the mat, not so as to be visible,but to save the skin from the painfulfriction. Black and white pebbles are colle
. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . N OF ALL NATIONS women, at their marriage, provided them-selves with knives, made of fi\e or sixsharks teeth, fixed to a small cane, withwhich to cut tlremselves on their husbandsdeath. Frightful wounds were often in-flicted. Mourning costume consisted in thewearing of an old ragged mat, the moreragged the better; and half-mourning per-mitted a wrapper of tapa to be worn under-neath the mat, not so as to be visible,but to save the skin from the painfulfriction. Black and white pebbles are collected to decorate the grave. The white pebbles arestrewn over the body and the black pebblesabove, in an eccentric ellipse, about thelength and breadth of a man. Finows chiefwidow used to go every morning to his grave,accompanied by her women, and cut thegrass short with knives and sharp shells,and sweep away the leaves with brooms ofcoco-nut stems. The illustration on thispage shows a modern Tongan widow inmourning, with cropped hair, wearing anold ragged mat, pouring oil over herhusbands
Size: 2236px × 1118px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidwomenofa, booksubjectwomen
