Through Uganda to Mount Elgon . iameter or—the height of ambition—a largepiece of white quartz two or three inches long. Both men and women are fond of orna-mentation. They wear beads of every kind,shape, and colour, and whatever coloured beadis the fashion becomes the currency for thetime being. Necklets, bracelets, and anklets ofiron and brass, some of them exceedingly heavy,are greatly sought after; waistbands, too, ofostrich eggshell, cowrie shells, and iron arevery popular, and hippo teeth, rams horns, legbells, shell and monkey-skin hats are worn toadd dignity to festive occasions and to
Through Uganda to Mount Elgon . iameter or—the height of ambition—a largepiece of white quartz two or three inches long. Both men and women are fond of orna-mentation. They wear beads of every kind,shape, and colour, and whatever coloured beadis the fashion becomes the currency for thetime being. Necklets, bracelets, and anklets ofiron and brass, some of them exceedingly heavy,are greatly sought after; waistbands, too, ofostrich eggshell, cowrie shells, and iron arevery popular, and hippo teeth, rams horns, legbells, shell and monkey-skin hats are worn toadd dignity to festive occasions and to inspireawe in time of war. At the age of about ten years both boys andgirls leave the house of their parents and takeup their quarters in houses provided for them,girls in one house, boys in another. I have already referred to the care taken bythe non-Bantu people in Teso to ensure the safekeeping of their girls at night-time. The peopleof Masaba are not so particular; there arecertain penalties attached to wrongdoing, and. MUGISHU WOMAN WEARING LIP The Protection of Girls 281 if the young people are foolish enough to bravethem they cannot complain of the punish-ment. A father who has been given cause forsuspicion will hide himself in the grass nearthe house of his daughter and wait night afternight until he knows for certain whether hisconfidence has been betrayed. Woe betide the guilty youth! The wholevillage is aroused, and the elders, with all themale relatives of the girl, fall on him with sticksand beat him until he wishes he had never beenborn. And here let me state a fact, hardly com-prehensible to Western minds: in nearly everycase of solicitation the girl is the culprit. When without a marriage according to nativecustom a child is expected, the girl is severelypunished by her father or brothers; indeed,their anger often leads them to the length ofspearing her, after which they will bring herto the European to be doctored. There is no idea of shame in th
Size: 1254px × 1992px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjec, booksubjectethnology
